The Miracle
by Maddy Forrester
Summary: Changed the rating to PG13 not sure if it is or not, but I think so...future fanfic, seven years from the current time, all about their life together in Newport. Pairings: SS and RM! ALSO: I forgot to disclaim so I am now! I don't own the O.C., SADLY! :)
1. The Wedding

Author's Notes: Okay, we're looking at about seven years after the present time in the O.C. Marissa and Ryan have been married for about a year and are happily expecting their first child. They have a beautiful manor in Newport. Ryan is a lawyer and Marissa is an interior designer. Summer and Seth have also been dating for a long period of time (since junior year of high school) and will be married at the being of the fanfiction. Seth is a producer of various movies and television shows. Ryan and Seth work a lot together because of copyrights and such. Summer is an actress on a TV show on NBC.  
Chapter One  
Marissa looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing a long lavender formal dress. Her hair was on the top of her head in an up- do. "Hey...you look great," a voice said from behind Marissa.  
  
Marissa smiled as she turned around. She knew that voice by heart. It belonged to one of her best friends, Summer. "Thank you, Sum, but all my baby weight and fat is showing," Marissa complained. Marissa took a few steps towards Summer and looked her up and down. "You, on the other hand, look absolutely fabulous.  
  
Summer glanced down at her white gown and grinned. "I really love this dress," Summer said. She grinned nervously at herself in the mirror. "I just hope Seth loves it, too."  
  
Marissa laughed. "Of course he will!" Marissa exclaimed. "I can't believe it. Ryan and I are married. We're having a child. You and Seth are getting married today!" Marissa instinctively threw her arms around her best friend. "Things can't get too much better, now can they?"  
  
Summer soon matched the same goofy grin that Marissa was wearing. "Yeah, I know what you mean. It seems like everything is just coming together perfectly," Summer answered.  
  
Then there was a knock on the door. Kirsten entered the room and smiled at both girls. "You both look so beautiful," Kirsten complimented as she hugged first Summer and then Marissa. "Well, they're almost ready for you two out there," Kirsten said. Kirsten took another look at the two grown women. Kirsten sighed. "I promised myself I wouldn't do this, but do you two mind if I have a kind of sentimental moment with you two?" Kirsten asked.  
  
Summer smiled. "Of course not!" Summer said as Marissa nodded her agreement.  
  
"Okay, well, I just want you two to know that I have two awesome sons. I love them both so much, but something I've always wanted was a daughter. For the past few years, I've felt like I've had two sons and two daughters. I just want to thank you both for all you do and let you know that I love you both very much," Kirsten said.  
  
"Oh, Kirst, I think I can speak for us both when I say that we both love you and have always thought of you as a mother. And Sandy has been more of a father then my father has ever been to me. I mean, I asked Sandy to walk me down the aisle even though my own biological father is supposed to be a ceremony. He probably won't even show up, I can never count on him. But I've always been able to count on you and Sandy, Kirst. Thank you so much," Summer told her mother-in-law.  
  
"Ditto," Marissa said simply, grinning back at her mother-in-law.  
  
"Oh, one more group hug, okay?" Kirsten said as she threw her arms around both of her daughters-in-law and kissed, first, Summer, and then Marissa, on the forehead. Kirsten sighed happily. "Alright, time to look pretty, let's go," Kirsten said. She opened the door and held it open for Summer and Marissa.  
  
As Summer and Marissa entered the vestibule of the church, they immediately saw the other three bridesmaids standing by the doors to the center aisle of the church. Summer had asked four other women besides Marissa to be her bridesmaids; all four were from college. First, there was Kellie, whom was probably almost as close to Summer as Marissa was. She couldn't make it because she was about seven months pregnant and living in New York with her husband until the baby was born. The other bridesmaids were Jillian, Anna Beth, and Natalie.  
  
"Oh, Sum!" Natalie exclaimed when she saw Summer coming towards them. "You look absolutely beautiful. Seth is gonna pass out when he sees you!" Natalie was wearing the same lavender bridesmaid dress and had her strawberry blonde hair up in a similar up-do to Marrisa's. "Here, this is yours," Natalie said, handing Summer her bouquet with mostly white roses and some desert roses. All the bridesmaids' bouquets were all desert roses.  
  
"You do look wonderful, Sum," Jillian said as she leaned over and handed Marissa her bouquet. Anna Beth nodded, agreeing with what Jillian had said. "Okay, it's time to go," Kirsten prompted them. "Get lined up and all, I'll go tell the organist we're all ready to start." They all lined up and stood waiting for the music. First, Anna Beth's twin daughters, Alexis and Alyson walked down the aisle as the flower girls. Next, Natalie's son, Noah, walked down the aisle as the ring bearer. Then came all the bridesmaids: Marissa, Anna Beth, Jillian, and Natalie. Finally, Summer walked down the aisle with her arm looped around Sandy's arm. As they both looked forward and grinned, Sandy leaned over and whispered to Summer, barely moving his lips, "Are you nervous?"  
  
Summer whispered back, "Are you kidding me!? Of course, I am!" They were now at the altar.  
  
Sandy turned to her and pulled her veil back. "Don't be nervous...he really loves you. You two are going to have a terrific life together," Sandy said. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. Summer quickly thanked him and then took her place up across from Seth. Summer grinned at Seth, whom mouthed "you're beautiful" to her as the priest started the wedding. Summer kept grinning and thought to herself We are going to have a wonderful life...I can't even wait!  
* * * * *  
  
A few hours later, the bridal party and all the guests were at the reception. Everyone was enjoying themselves, by either dancing or mingling with other guests at the reception. Summer and Seth were sitting at the head table, talking to Marissa and Ryan. "Have you guys come up with any more baby names?" Summer asked.  
  
"We're so undecided. I have no clue what we're going to do," Marissa answered. Ryan laughed at her.  
  
"Here's the problem, I want to name any of our kids any traditional name. Like Sarah, Michael, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Alexander...you know, those types of names. Marissa wants to name our kids things like Daphne and Celeste. Or Conner and Kaleb," Ryan explained.  
  
"What can I say? I want our kids to be interesting!" Marissa snapped playfully. Marissa turned back to Summer and Seth. "So here's a question. When are you two going to have kids?" Marissa asked.  
  
"Riss! They just got married!" Ryan said in a scolding kind of tone.  
  
"Ryan, normally, I wouldn't ask, but it's Summer and Seth. It's fine if we ask them," Marissa explained before turning back to Summer and Seth to hear their answer.  
  
Summer was smiling at her. "Of course it's fine that you asked us...and actually, Seth and I have discussed it and we decided we want to have kids as soon as possible. We're going to start, um, trying on our honeymoon," Summer grinned and even blushed a little.  
  
Marissa grinned. "That's great! Maybe our kids will be around the same age! How cool would that be?" Marissa asked excitedly.  
  
"Pretty cool," Summer answered.  
  
"What would be pretty cool?" Kirsten asked as she and Sandy came over to the table and sat down.  
  
"If our kid and Ryan and Riss's kid were around the same age," Seth said.  
  
Kirsten's head snapped over to Summer. "You're pregnant? Why didn't you tell us?" Kirsten asked.  
  
"Oh, no, I'm not. I'm not pregnant, I mean. Seth and I were just telling Marissa and Ryan that we'd like to start having kids as soon as possible," Summer explained grinning at Kirsten.  
  
"I see," Kirsten said. "So pretty soon we're going to be grandparents to two kids," Kirsten said to Sandy.  
  
"Oh, that makes me feel oh-so-old," Sandy replied shaking his head.  
  
Kirsten laughed and playfully hit Sandy. "Don't listen to him-this is wonderful news. We're so excited for you!"  
  
Summer grinned and wrapped her arms around Seth. She thought to herself Wonderful news...a new wonderful life...and I can't wait! She grinned again and, for the rest of the day, she couldn't stop grinning. 


	2. Trying And Trying

Chapter Two  
About three months after the wedding, Seth waited patiently, but nervously outside the master bedroom bathroom. Summer was inside the bathroom waiting for the results of an at-home pregnancy test. Seth and Summer had been trying to have a baby for three whole months now and both were completely frustrated with the way things were going.  
  
As he waited, Seth took a look around the room he stood in. Seth and Summer had bought a 4-bedroom house, just five blocks from Kirsten and Sandy's house, and four blocks away from Marissa and Ryan's house. He was looking forward to raising children with Summer in this house and nothing upset him more than getting negative results back from the at-home tests. Unfortunately, for the past three months, that was all Summer and Seth had gotten-negative test results.  
  
The door to the bathroom opened and out came Summer, with a tear stained face. "Oh, Sum, it's going to be okay," Seth said immediately while trying to hide his own disappointment from his wife.  
  
"No! It's not!" Summer screamed. "What if we never have a baby?" Summer flopped down on their bed. "Why is this happening to us? Why does everyone else get a baby?" Summer started sobbing so hard that her whole body started to shake.  
  
Seth sat down next to Summer. "Come here, sweetie," Seth said to her in a soothing voice. Summer slowly sat up and crawled closer to Seth. She slowly sank into his arms as her body continued to shake from all the heavy sobbing she was doing.  
  
"We're going to be okay. We'll have a baby eventually. Maybe it's just not our time yet," Seth rambled, trying to come up with a satisfying answer for Summer when he truly had no answers for her or even himself.  
  
"No, really! We've been trying so much!" Summer argued. Seth sighed to himself. He had forgotten how hostile Summer could be when she was upset and didn't get her way. "We should have a baby now! Not in a while, when it's our time! It's our time right now!" Summer yelled.  
  
A few minutes later, Summer had stopped sobbing as hard and had calmed down a bit. Now, that she was a little calmer, her sadness had turned to anger. That was a classic Summer self defense technique-turn your sadness into rage and anger.  
  
"Well, we'll just try again, Summer. It's going to happen, I know it. These things just take time," Seth said. He leaned down and kissed Summer's forehead. "Why don't we go-" Seth started to say.  
  
"I think we need help," Summer said, cutting Seth off. "Like professional help, real help. We should go see a fertility doctor," Summer said firmly. She turned and looked at Seth, whom was staring at his wife like she had gone crazy. "What!?" Summer snapped. "When people need help, they have to ask for it. Who else do you want to ask to help us, Ryan? Marissa? We need a fertility doctor! We need to get an appointment! We need to see a fertility doctor!" Summer insisted, nodding her head in a feverish manner.  
  
Seth sat there for a moment, looking completely shocked. It was completely unlike Summer to admit that she needed help and while part of him was proud of her for being able to admit she needed help, the other part of him wasn't so sure that they needed help. "Summer, I really don't think we need to see a fertility doctor-we haven't been having that much trouble," Seth babbled.  
  
"Seth Cohen! Do you see a fat woman or a baby around here? No, I don't think so. Therefore, we have been having trouble and I want to do something about it!" Summer snapped. "I want a baby of our own, I want to start a family, and I want it now!" Summer yelled.  
  
"Okay, Sum, try to calm down-" Seth started to say.  
  
"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Summer warned Seth, as she glared at him. "Don't tell me to calm down! I want to go to a fertility doctor! As soon as possible!" Summer added in a stubborn tone.  
  
Seth sighed and gave in. He just couldn't resist Summer, especially when he knew she was in a lot of emotional pain and so upset over something. "I don't think we have a problem. I don't think we should blame ourselves for why we don't have a baby yet. However, Sum, I do love you and if you're worried, I'll go to the fertility doctor with you if you want," Seth told her.  
  
Summer turned to face her husband. "Thank you," Summer said in a quiet face. The stubborn expression on her face disappeared and was replaced with an expression filled with love. Seth felt her whole body relax as she looked up to him. "I love you," she whispered to him.  
  
"I love you, too, sweetie," he said as he kissed her forehead. "I'll go call my doctor and ask him for the name of a doctor that he recommends, okay?" Seth asked. Summer nodded her approval and moved so that she was leaning against the headboard instead of Seth. He got up, kissed her one more time, and went to his office to get his doctor's number.  
  
Seth sat down in his office and dialed his doctor's number. "Yes, hello, may I please speak with Dr. Parker? You can tell him it's Seth Cohen on the phone," Seth said.  
  
"One moment, Mr. Cohen," a woman's voice replied. There was a beeping noise and Seth found himself feeling very nervous as he waited on hold for Dr. Parker. He wasn't sure why, but he had a sudden, terrible feeling that they were going to receive horrible news from the fertility doctor. Seth shook his head at himself and he felt quite shocked by his own attitude. They hadn't even seen a fertility doctor yet! How could he be so nervous about something that might not happen?  
  
"Hello?" a man's voice said over the phone line.  
  
"Hello, Dr. Parker, this is Seth Cohen. Listen, my wife and I are having a problem..." Seth started to discuss their problem with Dr. Parker. Seth prayed that their conversation would go well and that he might stop feeling so nervous by the end of their conversation.  
* * * * *  
Summer sat on the bed and worried about what was going on in her life. Years ago, if you would have told Summer that she'd be sitting in her room, crying over the fact that she didn't have a child, she probably would have slapped you and asked you if you were feeling sick. Summer had never wanted kids when she was growing up and assumed she'd never want them. Then Summer got together with Seth and realized that she would do anything to have Seth's children. It wasn't just that Seth wanted children so much, it was that Summer had finally realized what a gift children could be. She was desperate for Seth and herself to share the experience of raising children together. She only hoped and prayed that the fertility doctor would have some answers for her and Seth.  
  
Summer decided she needed to get her mind set on something else so she looked around the room for something else to occupy her mind until Seth arrived back in their bedroom. As she glanced around the room, the first thing that came into her view was a picture of her and Seth. It was from their sophomore year of college. They had decided to spend spring break down in Miami and spent almost all their time down at the beach. Seth and Summer had been walking down the beach when Summer stepped on a sharp, jagged shell and cut open the bottom of her foot. She was bleeding so bad that she started to cry and refused to walk back to the hotel. Then, without many choices left, Seth volunteered to carry Summer back to the hotel piggyback style. The hotel was about three miles away and when the two were almost half way there, a woman stopped them and insisted on taking their picture for them because they looked 'just too cute'. And now, about four years later, the picture still sat framed on the bedside table by Seth's side.  
  
The picture made Summer grin. That was the first time she smiled all day. Maybe even in the past few days. The last few weeks hadn't been easy for Seth or Summer.  
  
Summer's thoughts were soon interrupted by the telephone ringing. They had two lines and Seth always used the second line in his office. She reached over and picked up the phone, not bothering to look at the caller ID. "Hello?" Summer said. She tried to make her voice as clear as possible so that it wouldn't sound like she had been crying.  
  
"Sum?" the voice that Summer heard belonged to Kellie.  
  
"Hey, Kel, what's up?" Summer asked, trying to sound as normal as possible.  
  
"Are you okay?" Kellie asked, ignoring Summer's question for the time being. "You sound irritated...agitated...aggravated...frustrated...all of the above maybe?" Kellie guessed. Summer sighed. Kellie always knew what was going on.  
  
"Let's talk about that some other time, not today. Let's talk about why you called..." Summer suggested.  
  
"Okay, if you're sure. Well, I wanted to call you and let you know that Alex and I are moving back to California. We'll be there in about five days," Kellie told her.  
  
"Wow! I'm so glad! I know you always said you'd move back after Ellie was born, but, JEEZ! I didn't think it would ever happen. I'm so happy, Kel!" Summer said, smiling again for the second time that day.  
  
"Well, Elle's about three months old now so we figured it was time to move back to our actual home. Anyway, my parents and Alex's parents are throwing us a two year anniversary party a few days after we move back out there, so I just wanted to let you know because you're probably going to get the invitation today. Anyway, I got to go, but call me when you want to talk about what ever is so irritating and aggravating, okay, Sum?" Kellie said.  
  
"Yeah, of course. The party sounds great," Summer said.  
  
"Oh, and at the party, Alex and I want to ask you and Seth a very important question, but don't ask about it now, we want to talk to you two about it in person, okay?" Kellie added.  
  
Summer wondered to herself what Kellie and Alex could possibly have to ask Summer and Seth that was so important. "Okay, well, then when you get here, we can talk all about whatever it is. I'll talk to you later, Kellie. Bye," Summer said. Kellie said bye back to Summer and then they both hung up the phone. "What could Kellie and Alex possibly have to ask us?" Summer wondered again, this time out loud. 


	3. Meeting Dr Kincaid

Author Notes: Okay, I'm sorry this took so long to update, but my family went on vacation and our laptop had some virus so I couldn't use it to update the story at all. So I'm sorry about that...what else? I wanted to mention that I don't really know anything about fertility drugs, but I'm trying my best with this story. If I had more time on my hands right now, I'd be thrilled to actually look into it and make sure I'm completely factual and all that, but unfortunately I don't have any extra time right now...also, thank you to everyone who reviewed! You're all the reason I keep writing and sharing this! Please review!  
  
Disclaimer: I am aware that I haven't disclaimed yet in any of the chapters, but I am right now, for the whole story (chapters before, after, and including this one)...I, sadly, own nothing from FOX or the O.C. The only thing I really own is any extra or addition characters I add to this story. Thanks.  
  
Chapter Three  
Seth pulled into the parking lot of Newport's best hospital and parked the car. He turned to look at Summer, whom was sitting in the passenger seat. "Are you ready?" he asked softly. Summer looked up at him and sighed. She unbuckled her seat belt and climbed out of the car.  
  
Seth sighed to himself. Summer hadn't said much of anything the past week. He knew she was just scared, but it was kind of scary how much she pulled away when she got scared. Seth's thoughts were interrupted by Summer's voice.  
  
"Are you coming?" Summer asked snottily. Seth looked up. Summer had her dark sunglasses propped up on her head and her hands on her hips. She appeared to be in one of her very moody, snappy moods.  
  
"Yeah, I'm coming right now," Seth said as he plastered a smile on his face in an attempt to be pleasant.  
  
"Well, gee, that's good. Be careful though, I wouldn't want you to strain yourself. That would be too sad," Summer said with mock concern. She pulled her sunglasses over her eyes and stomped over to the hospital doors.  
  
"Oh, today will be even more fun than planned!" Seth muttered out loud to himself. He then followed Summer into the hospital. They rode the elevator up to the 15th floor. Seth signed them in at the fertility doctor's office and then joined Summer in the waiting room.  
  
She still had one of her famous "I'm going to be witchy all day" looks plastered (seemingly permanently) on her face. Seth sat down next to her and carefully took her hand in his.  
  
Summer started to pull her hand away, but Seth wouldn't let it go. "We're in this together," he told her firmly. "And I'm not going to let go."  
  
Summer glared at him first, but then slowly relaxed and eventually ended up laying her head down on his shoulder. Seth sighed in relief when she did this because it assured him, at least for that day, that she was getting somewhat better at the scared thing.  
  
Soon a woman in a black skirt came out from behind the front desk. With a clipboard in one hand, she read off the next appointment. "Summer Cohen?" the woman asked.  
  
Seth stood up and held Summer's hand as she slowly stood up. He could feel her hand slightly shaking, so he squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Come on," he prompted her. The two walked to the woman and followed her to a large office at the end of the hallway.  
  
"You two can wait right here until Dr. Kincaid is ready to see you. She should only be a few minutes," the woman nodded towards to seats across from the doctor's chair and then shut the door behind her.  
  
Summer sat down and looked nervously around the room. Everything looked normal and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Summer wasn't sure why, but because everything looked normal and ordinary, it made her feel even more nervous.  
  
Seth looked at his wife and couldn't help but feel very concerned for her. "Sum, are you okay? You look..." Seth let that sentence trail off. He didn't know how to end that sentence because he couldn't describe how she looked. She looked like she was in a lot of pain and just in a miserable mood. He couldn't stand it when she looked so upset, but he had no idea what to do that would make her feel better.  
  
"I'm okay," Summer answered quietly. She was staring straight forward and hadn't moved her head when Seth spoke or when she answered him. Summer turned to Seth and said softly, "We're going to be okay, right? I mean, we're going to have a baby, right?" Summer was staring at Seth and waiting for his reassurance.  
  
"Of course, sweetie," Seth answered as if on command. He wish he knew how he could reassure her that everything was going to be okay, but how was he to know? He felt like if he kept reassuring her, then he'd be lying to her, because maybe they never would have a baby. Seth shook his head slightly and pushed that idea out of his head. He had to think positively. They had to think positively. Together. Together they would be fine. Seth turned to Summer. "No matter what happens, concerning a baby or anything else, we will always have each other, okay? Everything is going to work out for us, I can feel it." Seth leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Everything will work out for us," Seth repeated.  
  
Summer slowly smiled at Seth. "Thank you, Seth. Really. I love you," Summer said softly. Seth nodded and smiled.  
  
"I love you, too, Sum," Seth answered. At that moment, the door to the office opened.  
  
The woman who walked in looked too young to be such a well-respected doctor. She had light brown hair, dark blue eyes, and tan skin. She had a young face and a really nice smile. Not a really nice smile as in one that you wanted, but a really nice smile as in one that tells you that the person is a truly nice person. She smiled at Summer and Seth. "You two make such a cute couple. I'm so pleased to meet you both," Dr. Kincaid said as she stuck her hand out to them. First, Seth shook her hand, then Summer.  
  
"We're pleased to meet you, too," Summer said. She flashed one of her best "Hollywood" smiles at the doctor. Seth called it her "Hollywood" smile because she always smiled a certain way for the press.  
  
Dr. Kincaid cocked her head to the side and stared at Summer. "You look so familiar-we haven't met before, have we?" she asked.  
  
"Oh, no, no, we haven't," Summer said as she smiled at Dr. Kincaid in an almost shy way.  
  
"Are you sure? You look really familiar...oh my, wait-you're not on TV are you? That show...my older daughters watch it all the time...Family Trees! That's it!" Dr. Kincaid said excitedly. "Isn't that you?" she asked.  
  
Summer finally gave in. "Yes, yes, that's me. Do your daughters really watch it all the time? I mean, if they enjoy it, I'd be happy to give you an autograph for them both," Summer offered. Seth couldn't stop smiling at Summer. She always gets so excited when she met fans of hers or her shows.  
  
"Oh, if you could! That would terrific. I actually have three daughters, well, older daughters anyway," Dr. Kincaid commented as she grabbed a pen and paper. She handed them to Summer, whom gladly took them.  
  
"Do you mind if I ask how many kids you have?" Summer started signing the papers for the daughters when she looked up and said, "Sorry, what were their names?"  
  
"Rachel, Megan, and Alyson," Dr. Kincaid answered. "I have five daughters and three sons." Summer smiled and handed the autographs back to the doctor.  
  
"Oh, thank you so much. You're absolutely wonderful! My daughters are going to love me forever now! Okay, I'm so sorry to get so off topic. Let's focus on you and your future children now," Dr. Kincaid said. Summer sighed nervously. She and Seth explained to Dr. Kincaid about how they had been trying for a period of time and still didn't have a baby.  
  
"Well, in both your medical histories, it says that you've both had some kinds of fertility tests in the past month. Have you already seen some specialist?" Dr. Kincaid asked.  
  
"No, we haven't. We had those tests done because Summer has been worried for a while that something is really wrong," Seth explained.  
  
"Well, I think everything is mostly fine, but you may need some help from fertility drugs. I would prescribe some to Summer right now, but unfortunately I can't," Dr. Kincaid told them.  
  
Both Seth and Summer stared at her. "Well...why not?" Summer asked.  
  
"Well, in Summer's medical history, it says that your mother developed an addiction to some drugs during her pregnancy with you. Some of these drugs that are listed are in fertility drugs," Dr. Kincaid explained.  
  
"So you're worried that Summer will have some bad reactions to the drugs," Seth said as he pieced the puzzle together in his head.  
  
"Exactly. It isn't a one hundred percent positive chance, but it's at least fifty-fifty, if not more. Now, what I would recommend is that the two of you go home, think this over and then schedule a appointment for a few weeks from now. This way you'll have time to think about and consider your options. It's completely up to you what you want to do, but I want you two to really think this over," Dr. Kincaid explained.  
  
"Okay, we will," Seth said as he stood up. "We'll contact you in a few weeks or so. Thank you for your time." Seth gave Dr. Kincaid a friendly smile before turning to help an upset Summer up. Summer also thanked Dr. Kincaid before they walked out.  
  
As they drove home, the two tried to discuss the drugs. "Seth, I think I should just take them. I might not have any reaction at all to them. You never know. It doesn't hurt to try and see," Summer babbled.  
  
"You're not taking any fertility drugs. We don't know what kind of reactions might happen and I'm not taking any chances with you," Seth told her firmly as he turned down their street.  
  
"Seth! We have to make this decision together," Summer reminded him.  
  
Seth rolled his eyes. Since when did Summer become the voice of reason? "Okay, fine, Summer. You're right, okay? We have to make this decision together, so why don't we both think about it for a week or so and then we can make our final decision together, okay?" Seth tried to compromise somewhat.  
  
"Fine," Summer agreed as she sighed deeply. Seth pulled the car up to their mailbox and pulled out the mail.  
  
"Hey, we got something from Kel and Alex," Seth said as he flipped through the mail.  
  
Summer flipped her hair over her shoulder and glanced over at it. "It's the invitation for their anniversary party," Summer told him. She frowned as she remembered something.  
  
"What's wrong?" Seth asked with concerned eyes.  
  
"When I talked to Kel, she said she and Alex had something important to ask us. I'm just wondering what it could be. She said they had to ask us in person," Summer explained with a confused look on her face.  
  
Seth shrugged. "I guess we'll find out at the party then," he said. 


	4. Ideas And Honors

Chapter Four  
  
Seth and Summer walked up to the front doors of the huge, white mansion Kellie and Alex called home. Seth rang the doorbell and shortly after, Kellie's mother answered the door. "Oh, Summer! It is so great to see you!" Mrs. Carlson exclaimed. She hugged Summer before turning to Seth. "And how are you, dear?" Mrs. Carlson asked.  
  
"We're both doing well, Mrs. Carlson," Seth answered.  
  
Mrs. Carlson grinned at the two young people. "It is so good to see you both!" Mrs. Carlson repeated in the same excited tone. Suddenly, she slapped her hand to her forehead. "Oh, my! I'm so sorry-please excuse my manners! Come in please!" Mrs. Carlson said in a sheepish voice. She moved aside and motioned for them to come in.  
  
Seth and Summer stepped inside the house, where they immediately spotted Kellie, whom was headed towards the kitchen. Kellie ran quickly to Summer and threw her arms around Summer. "Oh, Sum, I'm so unbelievably thrilled to see you again! I've missed you so much!" Kellie exclaimed as her grip on Summer tightened.  
  
The two were still hugging when Seth said jokingly, "I'm glad to know you missed me, too, Kel!"  
  
Kellie pulled away from Summer and grinned happily at Seth. "Aww! Sethie, you know I love you and that I missed you a ton!" Kellie told him. She gave him a quick hug.  
  
"Where's Alex?" Seth asked.  
  
"Ooh, and Ellie!" Summer added.  
  
"Alex is upstairs, changing Ellie's diaper," Kellie explained. At that exact moment, Alex came down the stairs holding Ellie.  
  
Summer spotted them first and hurried over to them. "Ooh, she's beautiful! Can I hold her?" Summer asked excitedly.  
  
Alex smiled at Summer and nodded. He let Summer take Ellie out of his arms and said, "Oh, by the way, it's nice to see you, too, Sum."  
  
Summer looked up and saw that Alex was teasing. "I'm very glad to see you, Alex. Seth and I have missed you and Kel a lot. In fact, I told Kellie that you guys can't ever leave California again!" Summer smiled at Alex.  
  
"I don't think we ever will leave here again. We missed everything and everyone the whole time we were in New York. California is and always will be home for us," Alex said. Alex looked at Ellie in Summer's arms. "She must really like you. She's normally absolutely horrible with people she's just met. She usually cries when anyone but Kellie or I holds her."  
  
"Really?" Summer asked. She felt shocked that a picky baby would pick her to like out of all people.  
  
"Yeah, Elle doesn't really like anyone-she still cries every time my mother holds her, which doesn't please my mother one bit at all!" Kellie laughed.  
  
"Well," Summer started as she smiled down at Ellie, "she's a beautiful baby and seems like an angel to me."  
  
"That's because you haven't changed her diaper yet," Alex teased.  
  
Kellie, ignoring Alex, said, "Well, if that's how you feel, Sum, do you mind holding her for a while? I need to go check on the caterers and I know Alex will want to let her crawl around on the floor, but there is going to be people all over the place and I don't want her to get hurt," Kellie babbled.  
  
"Oh, of course, that sounds like a lot of fun, doesn't it, Ellie? We'll have fun together won't we?" Summer said to Ellie. Summer looked up at Kellie and said, "She is such a sweetie, she really is, Kel." Summer sighed for a moment and then added softly, "You're really lucky, Kel."  
  
Seth and Alex had just ducked into the next room to mingle with all the guests. Kellie leaned closer to Summer. "Sum, sweetie, are you okay? You seem a little sad or unsure of something..." Kellie asked as she looked at Summer with big, wide, concerned, blue eyes. She flipped her bright blonde hair over her shoulder. "Does this have something to do with the other day and what you were talking about on the phone?" Kellie questioned.  
  
Darn it! Summer thought to herself. How does Kellie always pick up on these things? She's like an all knowing psychic or something, for heaven sakes!  
  
Summer sighed. "Yeah, it does, but this really isn't the time to talk about it. We can talk about it later. Today is your day," Summer said simply. She forced a smile on her face.  
  
Kellie gave Summer a doubtful look. In return, Summer gave Kellie another reassuring smile. "Are you sure you're okay?" Kellie asked. Summer nodded. "Okay, well, if you change your mind, you come and tell me and we can talk then, okay, Sum?" Kellie offered.  
  
"Okay, thanks, Kellie," Summer said. Kellie looked at Summer one last time before going into the kitchen.  
  
Summer sat down at the very bottom of the winding, cream-colored, carpeted stairs and held Ellie in her lap. As Summer stared at Ellie, she couldn't believe how lucky Kellie was. Not only did she have a baby, but she had a beautiful one, too.  
  
At three months, Ellie had a head full of Kellie's beautiful blonde hair. Her eyes were a dark, deep color of blue. If possible, they were even prettier than Kellie's eyes. She had the cutest little nose you had ever seen and small ears that didn't stick out.  
  
Summer couldn't help but wonder what her and Seth's baby would look like-if they ever had one. She imagined in her head a little girl with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. A few dimples here and there, Summer's sense of fashion, and Seth's sense of humor, and-presto-this kid would be ready to go. Maybe she's even get Summer's acting ability. Summer smiled as these thoughts and images ran through her head. Just as a seemingly good idea popped into Summer's head, Kellie came rushing out of the kitchen.  
  
"The caterers forgot to pick up the cake so I'm going to go pick it up, Summer," Kellie her as she reached for her jacket.  
  
This is perfect! Summer thought. Summer handed Ellie to Kellie and said, "Don't you dare go anywhere, Kel. Today is about you and Alex so you stay here and I'll go get the cake."  
  
"Oh, Sum, that is so nice of you! Are you sure you don't mind?" Kellie asked.  
  
"Not at all!" Summer smiled at Kellie as she thought how she needed to be going out anyway. Kellie quickly scribbled down the bakery's name and address for Summer.  
  
Clutching the address in one hand and digging through her purse for her car keys in the other, Summer headed out to her car.  
* * * * *  
Ten minutes later, Summer was sitting in Dr. Kincaid's waiting room. Summer had called from the car and asked if she could possibly have a short emergency appointment with Summer. Dr. Kincaid had said yes, of course, and told her to come right over.  
  
"Dr. Kincaid will see you now," the soft-spoken secretary said. She stared, in a pleasant way, at Summer as if to indicate that she was talking to her.  
  
Summer shot her a brief smile as she walked past the secretary and into Dr. Kincaid's office.  
  
Summer immediately spotted Dr. Kincaid sitting at her desk. "Oh, thank you so much for seeing me-I know you're very busy," Summer said as she slowly sank down into on of the chairs across from Dr. Kincaid.  
  
"Oh, it's perfectly fine, Summer. What can I do for you today?" Dr. Kincaid asked.  
  
"I know we agreed we'd schedule an appointment for a few weeks from now to make our final decisions about the fertility drugs, but..." Summer started.  
  
"You've decided already," Dr. Kincaid finished for Summer.  
  
"Yes. I want the drugs. I understand the risks, but my husband and I- we want kids. For now, this is our best bet and I'm willing to do whatever I can to make that happen," Summer explained.  
  
After a few more minutes of talking about the drugs, Dr. Kincaid gave Summer some sample pills and a prescription for her to have filled for more pills.  
  
"Thank you so much, Dr. Kincaid," Summer said sincerely as she clutched the sample pills in her left hand.  
  
"Summer, please call me Katherine. And your welcome," Dr. Kincaid told Summer. They said their good-byes and as Summer started to walk out the door, Dr. Kincaid added, "Summer? I want us to be friends and as a friend, I hope you don't mind me saying that you need to Seth what's going on."  
  
Summer nodded and said, "I know, thanks, Katherine." Summer then left the building and headed for the bakery.  
* * * * *  
"Sorry that took so long, Kel," Summer said when she returned to Kellie and Alex's house. She had dropped the cake off in the kitchen and headed directly towards the living room. "There was a long line at the bakery," Summer lied.  
  
"Oh, that's fine-thanks so much for picking it up!" Kellie said.  
  
"No problem," Summer answered cheerfully.  
  
"Now that you're back, Alex and I can make our announcement," Kellie said as she turned to face the crowds of people in the room. She clapped her hands loudly until she had everyone's attention. "Okay, everyone if you all can be quiet for a few minutes, Alex and I have an announcement to make," Kellie waited for Alex to join her at the front of the room before going on. "Alex and I have finally picked a newlywed couple to be Elizabeth's godparents and, if they say yes, her guardians if anything should happen to Alex and me." Everyone in the room seemed to be hanging on to Kellie's every word.  
  
As Summer took a sip of her glass of wine, Kellie continued, "We love these two people very much and we know they'd make wonderful parents. Summer and Seth Cohen, we would be honored if you two would be Elizabeth's guardians and godparents."  
  
Summer choked on her wine. Alex and Kellie were leaving them Elizabeth if they should die? It was an honor to be asked and, of course, she would agree to do it, but she was just feeling a little shocked by the sudden news.  
  
Summer moved slowly to the front of the room. She took one look at Seth and immediately knew he felt the same way she did.  
  
"So what do you guys think?" Kellie asked hopefully and nervously.  
  
"The answer is yes, Kel," Summer exclaimed happily. The two couples hugged each other and thanked one another.  
  
For a few happy moments, Summer forgot all about their fertility problems and just enjoyed being in her husband's arms. 


	5. Malerie And Conner

Author Notes: This chapter is finally about Ryan and Marissa. Sorry that they haven't been mentioned too much, but I've been having a hard time of coming up with much of a plot for them. Seth and Summer's plot has been a lot easier to write. This chapter doesn't really have much of a plot for Ryan and Marissa, but I am working on something right now that I think will be a pretty good plot for Ryan and Marissa. Anyway, thank you to everyone who reviewed and please keep reviewing!  
  
Chapter Five  
  
After a long day at work, Ryan was more than thrilled to be home. He had celebrity after celebrity in his office and calling him about suing their costars, writers, and producers. Ryan just couldn't take it anymore so he told his assistant, Lily, that he was going home early.  
  
"Riss?" Ryan called after he closed their front door.  
  
"In the living room!" Marissa called back.  
  
Pregnant, but still beautiful Ryan thought to himself as he entered the living room and saw his wife. She was wearing a long, flowing, yellow sundress. She had on a pair of matching yellow flip-flops and her fingernails were painted the same shade of yellow. On most people, this would all be too much yellow, but somehow Marissa made it work.  
  
Ryan came over to Marissa and kissed her forehead. "Hey, baby, how was work?" Marissa asked as she turned the TV off.  
  
"Too many cases, too many problems. People need to get normal lives," Ryan answered. "All these stars go from best friends with costars to rivals and I just don't get it. How do they do that on a daily basis? Doesn't it get tiring?" Ryan asked as he shook his head in disbelief.  
  
Marissa laughed. "Ask Summer, she'd probably know," Marissa joked. "Come here, and I'll rub your back for you. You'll feel all better then," Marissa offered.  
  
Ryan sat down next to Marissa. "Shouldn't I be rubbing your back?" Ryan asked as he rubbed his forehead.  
  
"I'll forget about that just this once, sweetie," Marissa teased. She motioned for him to turn around and he obeyed. As Marissa rubbed his back, she told him about the baby furniture she had looked at all day. "Ooh!" Marissa suddenly said. "Guess what? I was talking to this woman today and she gave me an idea for a girl baby name! Ooh, you're actually going to love it! It's perfect!" Marissa squealed.  
  
"Let's hear it," Ryan said as he rolled his eyes at Marissa. Almost every single day since she learned she was pregnant, Marissa had come up with a new baby name for a boy and a girl. And every time, Marissa would say it was the perfect name and that Ryan was going to love it.  
  
"Alright-Mallory! See, it's not really a new trendy name, but its not completely old fashioned either. Plus I came up with an adorable way of spelling it! M-A-L-E-R-I-E! Is that not the perfect name for a baby girl?" Marissa squealed excitedly. She stared at Ryan with hopeful eyes.  
  
Ryan smiled at Marissa. "You are too cute when you get excited," Ryan told her.  
  
Marissa just laughed and then said, "What do you think about the name? I have to know right now! I'm just too excited!" She put a huge smile on face and stared at him intently.  
  
"Actually, for a change, I do like Malerie. I think that'd be cute. Malerie Atwood. Sounds good to me," Ryan said sincerely. "Alright, as of right now, that's what the agreed girl name is for the baby."  
  
"Yes!" Marissa exclaimed excitedly. "And the agreed boy name is Conner?" Marissa added as she raised her thin eyebrows at Ryan hopefully.  
  
"Not on your life, sweetie," Ryan answered promptly as he smirked at Marissa. Marissa pouted at him and stuck out her bottom lip. Ryan just shook his head at her and laughed. "Sorry. It's not happening," Ryan told her.  
  
"What do you suggest we name a baby boy? Ryan Jr.?" Marissa asked.  
  
"Well, now that you mention it, Ryan Jr. has a ring to it," Ryan said in a serious tone. He looked off in a different direction than Marissa and pretended to be contemplating the name.  
  
"You have got to be kidding me!" Marissa said in a horrified voice. Ryan turned his attention back to her and laughed. Marissa could see that he was actually teasing her. "You're impossible!" Marissa giggled.  
  
"Not too impossible-I'll let you pick whatever you want to do tonight and I will do whatever it is without any complaint at all...or hardly any complaint," Ryan told her.  
  
"Alright, I can live with that," Marissa agreed. Marissa smiled to herself before adding, "You know, if I wasn't seven months pregnant and so darn fat, you'd probably be getting lucky right now with all the great things you've been saying to me," Marissa teased as she smirked at Ryan.  
  
"Come on, Riss! Don't tease me like that," Ryan scolded. Marissa giggled at her helpless looking husband. Ryan shot her a pleading look. Marissa decided to stop teasing him then and there because Ryan rarely gave out pleading looks.  
  
"Alright, alright, I give up. I'll be good," Marissa promised Ryan.  
  
"Okay, well, then what do you want to do tonight?" Ryan asked her.  
  
"I'm so tired...do you want to just order in some dinner and watch a movie?" Marissa asked.  
  
"Sounds like a plan. A good one, too-you shouldn't be up and on your feet," Ryan told her. Marissa rolled her eyes.  
  
"Oh, please, Ryan," Marissa replied as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.  
  
"The doctors tell you that you need to rest and avoid stress for a reason, Riss," Ryan reminded her.  
  
"Fine, fine, fine, have it your way. I'll sit down and rest and I'll avoid stress and become a petty housewife, whom pretends to accomplish things during the day, while secretly only watching Oprah and Golden Girls all day long," Marissa started to babble on and on.  
  
"You're not petty...not most of the time, anyway," Ryan teased. Marissa picked up a throw pillow off the couch and aimed it at Ryan's head. Ryan tried to duck, but unfortunately, for him, he wasn't quick enough and Marissa had perfect aim. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Ryan surrendered as he threw his hands up in the air.  
  
"How sorry?" Marissa asked with another pillow in hand.  
  
"Sorry enough to let you name the baby Conner if it's a boy," Ryan said.  
  
Marissa dropped the pillow. "Seriously?" she asked him. Her eyebrows were raised as she frowned at Ryan suspiciously.  
  
Ryan, hands still in the air, nodded quickly. "Unfortunately for me, I love you too much to not say yes. So, yes, the agreed baby name can be Conner," Ryan said as he admitted to himself that he had finally given in to Marissa as usual.  
  
Marissa's expression changed from suspicion to one of happiness and love. "Ooh, I love you, I love you, I absolutely love you!" Marissa exclaimed as she threw her arms around Ryan and gave him a tight hug. "You are the absolute best, Ry. Don't worry-Conner will grow on you and you'll come to love that name just as much as me. Maybe even more! And if not-hey! You can name the next kid!" Marissa was babbling in her excitement.  
  
Now it was Ryan's turn to raise his eyebrows at Marissa. "The next baby?" he questioned.  
  
"Yes, sweetie, we absolutely have to have more than one kid-I was thinking about five!" Marissa told Ryan in the same excited tone she had been using most of the evening.  
  
Ryan laughed. "Well, I was expecting more than one, too, but five? You may change your mind after Malerie or Conner. Kids are a ton of work and five would make us have a very busy life," Ryan said seriously.  
  
"Well, we'll just have to see how the first one works out," Marissa told Ryan. "We can work on it from there then."  
  
"That sounds good to me, Riss," Ryan said as he leaned over and kissed Marissa's forehead. "What do you want me to order for dinner?" Ryan asked as he stood up.  
  
"Ooh, pizza. No, wait! Chinese! No, wait! Pizza-that's it, I want pizza. Or maybe I want something fast food-y or something," Marissa looked up at Ryan as she stopped in the middle of her babbling. "Okay, pizza, that's my final decision," Marissa said with an affirmative nod.  
  
"Okay," Ryan laughed.  
  
"Extra cheesy!" Marissa called after Ryan as he left the room to go call the pizza place.  
  
"Okay! Pick out a movie!" Ryan called back to her.  
  
When Ryan entered the room again, Marissa was holding two DVDs in her hands. "What did you pick?" Ryan asked curiously.  
  
"Both are classics-you get to pick which one we watch. It's either 'When Harry Met Sally' or 'Clueless'," Marissa told him.  
  
Ryan raised his eyebrows at Marissa again. "Excuse me, classics? 'When Harry Met Sally'? 'Clueless'?" Ryan questioned.  
  
"Yup, they are both total classics. No greater movie will ever be made than those two," Marissa informed Ryan in a serious tone. "Just pick one," Marissa added as she shrugged her shoulders at Ryan.  
  
"Fine, fine, you win again tonight," Ryan told her.  
  
"Must be my lucky night," Marissa replied.  
  
Ryan got up and picked up 'When Harry Met Sally' out of Marissa's arms. "We can watch this, I guess," Ryan said as he put it in the DVD player and pressed play. Ryan came back and sat down on the couch.  
  
Marissa moved closer to Ryan and made herself comfortable in his arms. Ryan wrapped his arms around Marissa as they watched the movie together. They both fell asleep half way through the movie and stayed that way the whole night. 


	6. Secrets And Lies

Chapter Six  
  
Summer checked the kitchen clock for about the eighth time that hour. It was eleven twenty one. She and Marissa had made plans to go out to lunch together since they hadn't really been seeing as much of each other as they were used to. Marissa was supposed to come over at eleven thirty so they could take one car to lunch. Summer was trying to wait as patiently as possible for it to be time for Marissa to come over, but she was failing miserably.  
  
Summer wished Marissa would hurry up and get there. Summer was feeling very anxious and nervous about Marissa coming over because she had decided that she couldn't keep it to herself anymore-she decided to tell Marissa what was going on with the fertility drugs and all.  
  
Summer had been hiding the drugs from Seth for about a week now and it was getting harder and harder to hide them. She didn't like lying to Seth and knew she shouldn't be lying to him. Summer also knew in her heart that she couldn't tell him the truth because he would be angry that she went against his wishes. Especially since she hadn't even talked to him about it before hand.  
  
Summer sighed nervously and ran a hand through her shiny, dark brown hair. This whole thing was giving her a terrific headache. Besides having a headache, she was experiencing so many different side effects from the drugs. She could barely concentrate anymore. Most of the time she felt irritable and angry. Sometimes she felt weak and dizzy. All the side effects were getting worse and worse and it seemed like there were more side effects appearing every day. Summer wasn't sure how much more she could take of this. Especially if she didn't have anyone she could talk to about it.  
  
Summer closed her eyes and said to herself, "This is for Seth. This is for Seth." She kept repeating this to herself over and over again out loud until she heard the doorbell ring. "OH, THANK GOD!" Summer yelled to know one in particular as she practically ran to the door. She threw the door open and grabbed Marissa by the elbow. Summer pulled her into the house and then promptly kicked the door shut with her foot.  
  
"Um, hi..." Marissa said as she gave Summer a confused look.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! Moving on, I'm taking fertility drugs," Summer blurted out. She looked very angry, with her hands practically plastered to her hips.  
  
Marissa's blue eyes grew incredibly wide. "What?" she asked. Marissa wondered if she had possibly misunderstood Summer. She knew Seth and Summer were having trouble having a baby, but she didn't think it was that serious of a problem.  
  
"And Seth doesn't know I'm taking them," Summer added bluntly, as if this was no big deal.  
  
"What!" Marissa shrieked in disbelief.  
  
"Do you want to hear the best part?" Summer asked as she moved into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Marissa followed her into the room and sat down next to her. "Seth doesn't want me taking them so I'm actually lying and going against Seth's wishes all in one!" Summer told her without waiting for an answer from Marissa.  
  
"Holy crap, Summer! How did all this happen?" Marissa asked. Her eyes were still wide with disbelief and concern.  
  
Summer explained everything about Dr. Kincaid, the drugs, wanting a baby, and Ellie. "So now you know the whole story," Summer said sighing.  
  
"Wow," Marissa said. She was actually stunned by Summer's behavior. Sure, Summer had always been a little wild and never really told anyone except Marissa the whole truth, but after Summer started dating Seth, Seth was added to the very short list of people Summer would never lie to and always tell the whole truth to. "You've been hiding this from Seth for a whole, entire week?" After Summer sighed and nodded her head, Marissa went on. "Sum, you're not going to like this, but you have to tell Seth what's going on."  
  
Summer shook her head feverishly. "No way," Summer answered firmly. "He'd freak out. He'd be mad. He'd get very, very angry with me for lying to him." Summer soon realized she was starting to ramble so she shut her mouth and sat quietly.  
  
"How are you not going to tell him?" Marissa asked. She still was feeling shocked by Summer's attitude about this. She understood why Summer felt like this, but didn't she see that she had to tell Seth what was going on?  
  
Summer titled her head to the side. She had a sarcastic look on her face. "Well, I kind of thought not telling him would cover the 'not telling him' part, but that's just me!" Summer said in a chipper tone.  
  
"Summer Marie Roberts, stop that right now!" Marissa yelled.  
  
"What?" Summer asked innocently.  
  
"You have to tell him!" Marissa argued.  
  
"I can't! Not right now, anyway!" Summer argued back.  
  
The two were both quiet for a few minutes and then Summer said, "Please, Marissa, I can't tell him right now...I will soon, but just not today, okay, Riss? Please?" Summer had a pleading look on her face that Marissa just couldn't say no to. Marissa sighed and nodded her head. "Thank you," Summer said softly.  
* * * * *  
Seth was sitting behind his huge desk at his office, busy with emailing a script for a new TV show to some actors and actresses. All he needed was a few of his favorite big names and this show would be completely ready to go. Seth hit the send button and then turned off his computer.  
  
Just as he thought he had a minute to relax before his next appointment, there was a loud knock on the door. Seth rolled his eyes. Today was going to be a bad day, he could tell. "Come in," Seth said loudly.  
  
The door swung open and his young assistant, Bianca, walked in. She dropped a huge stack of papers and envelopes on his desk. "Your day is about to get a lot better," Bianca joked. She pointed a long finger to the pile of papers. "Scripts, reviews, letters of compliment, letters of complaint, and more reviews...more scripts...more crap for you to be busy with!" She waved a hand at the pile. "Looks like fun," she commented.  
  
Seth grinned at her. "Sure does," he replied sarcastically.  
  
"Oh, by the way, Ryan just popped in your large and still over crowded waiting room," Bianca said in a singsong voice.  
  
"Thanks, Bee. Send him in, please," Seth replied. Bianca nodded and left Seth's office. Moments later, Ryan walked in and closed the door behind him.  
  
"Hey, do you have a minute? I need to talk to you," Ryan said quickly. He sat down in a comfy looking chair across from Seth.  
  
"Well, not really, bro, but for you, why not?" Seth answered. He put down the letter he had been reading and looked at Ryan. "What's up?"  
  
"Okay so my company wants me to move to New York and help open up the New York office. Then they want me to stay there and run it," Ryan told Seth.  
  
"Well, congratulations, that's quite a honor, right?" Seth asked.  
  
"Yes, but I don't want to leave Newport," Ryan answered.  
  
"So? You're like second in command. Make someone lower on the food chain go," Seth replied reasonably.  
  
"I don't know...I know that it would be very hard to make someone else go. I don't want to put anyone else in this position. On the other hand, I don't want to leave and I know it would be very hard to convince Marissa to leave. Especially if it was to move to somewhere as far away as New York," Ryan explained.  
  
"What would she do without the beach?" Seth joked.  
  
"And all our relatives are here. Everyone we care about and know. Basically, our whole lives are here in Newport and we have nothing in New York," Ryan said as he went on.  
  
"You should just tell your boss you're not going. You're the one who built the company up and the one who keeps it growing and going. He won't fire you, you know that," Seth said logically. "Anyway, what does Riss think about the whole thing?"  
  
Ryan looked up guilty. "I actually haven't told her yet. I don't know how to break it to her or even discuss it with her. Or how she'll react," Ryan explained.  
  
"Hopefully not violently," Seth said. He was only half joking about that part. "My, oh, my, Ryan. You'd better tell Riss before she finds out some other way. She won't be happy if she hears it from someone else, Ry," Seth warned him.  
  
Ryan looked at his watch. "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Secrets equals bad. I'll talk to her when the timings right, but right now I got to go-I have a hearing in twenty minutes," Ryan told him.  
  
The brothers said goodbye to each other and both headed back to work for the day. 


	7. A Fun Night!

Author Notes: Sorry I haven't updated too often lately, but we've been having some technical problems at home and I couldn't type, much less, update so here I am now! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I'll try to get the next one up tomorrow or the day after! Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Your reviews keep me going and I'm really grateful for each one I receive! Sorry again about the wait and please review!

****

Chapter Seven

"Sum! Ryan and Marissa are here!" Seth yelled down to Summer from the top landing of the stairs.

"That's nice to know," Summer replied in a cheerful tone from the living room. She was sitting on their couch, picking at her nails. She really shouldn't have been picking her nails because she had just gotten them done, but at that particular moment, Summer couldn't have cared less about her long nails.

"Could you please open the door?" Seth shouted back down to her.

"Nope. But you could," Summer informed Seth. "What a dumb butt," she muttered to herself. She was in a horrible mood. Today, the drugs were definitely having their grouchy effect on her. She was well aware of the fact that she was much closer to the door than Seth was. She was also well aware that she was completely ready while Seth still had on mismatched clothes. However, she was in her grouchy, irritable, angry mood so she refused to be at all sensible or reasonable.

"Summer!" Seth called again. "Please answer the door so I can change my shirt!" He was being polite and nice about how he was asking her to open the door, but she refused to do it.

"You get your butt down here and you answer the door, you lazy geek. What am I, your slave?" Summer snapped angrily. Then Summer got up from the couch, walked through the front hall, past the front door, and into the kitchen to check on the dinner.

"I love her, she's my wife. I love her, she's my wife," Seth muttered and repeated this to himself as he walked down the stairs to answer the door. He had decided it was not worth it to argue with Summer. She seemed more moody than normal lately and Seth was starting to think she was angry with him. He wasn't sure what he had done, but he was sure that he could have very possibly done something.

Seth sighed and then opened the door. He moved aside to let Ryan and Marissa in. "Hey," Seth greeted them. "Riss-you're getting bigger and bigger each day!" he teased happily.

Marissa slapped him playfully. "Seth Cohen, you sure know how to flatter a woman," Marissa teased back as she leaned over and hugged Seth. She then stepped away from Seth and glanced at his clothes. "Seth, hon, do you realize you're wearing mismatched clothes?" she asked. Seth nodded, rolled his eyes, and mouthed 'don't even ask' to Marissa. Marissa giggled and nodded back to him.

"Are you two hungry?" Seth asked as he led them into the kitchen. "Because my beautiful wife made an amazing dinner, if I do say so myself," Seth grinned.

As Marissa and Ryan sat themselves down at the table, which was already set, Seth went up behind Summer and kissed the side of her head. Summer turned, glared at him, and then proceeded in taking the garlic bread and spaghetti to the table. "Seth, dear," Summer said in a chilly tone, "grab the salad and cheese, alright?"

"Yes, honey," Seth replied. He knew that it was going to be a long night. He grabbed the bowls and turned around. He glanced at Marissa, whom was looking bewildered by their behavior. Ryan, as always, was somewhere else and not concerned with the odd behavior.

Summer turned to Marissa and flashed her a giant, toothy smile. It was totally fake and Marissa knew it. She could see almost, if not every, single one of Summer's pearly white teeth. "Have you two made any more decisions where baby names are concerned?" Summer asked in an overly cheerful and enthusiastic tone.

"Actually, we have!" Marissa squealed as all the excitement of name picking came back to her.

"Really? What names?" Summer asked curiously. She had dropped the overly-too-enthusiastic tone and had a genuinely happy tone now.

"Conner for a boy and Malerie for a girl," Marissa answered happily. She gazed at Ryan. "And those are our final decisions name wise right, honey?" Ryan rolled his eyes in a good-natured way and nodded back to Marissa.

"Wow, Ryan. You really let Marissa have her way this time, huh?" Summer commented in a surprised tone.

"Well, I love her, and I couldn't really resist making her happy so…" Ryan's voice trailed off.

"That is sooo sweet!" Summer cooed. She snapped her head in Seth's direction. "Too bad everyone isn't as sweet as you are, Ry."

Summer's snappy and moody attitude soon shut everyone at the table up and they all finished dinner in silence other than the occasional 'please pass the salad'.

"Oookay, that was a lot of fun," Seth said after they all finished dinner. Everyone started to clear the table and clean up.

"Hey! The night's still young!" Marissa reminded Seth. "Do you guys want to call it a night or do something else?" Marissa suggested.

Summer flipped her dark brown hair over her shoulder. "We could watch a movie or do something here. You probably shouldn't be up and about too much nowadays anyway," Summer said to Marissa.

Marissa laughed. "You sound just like Ryan. He gets worried when I walk from one room to the next," Marissa grinned.

Ryan ignored Marissa's comment and answered Summer, "It's not like we have any where else to be so why don't we just stay and watch a movie?" He shrugged at them all.

Marissa laughed again. "Pretend like your happy to be here, honey," Marissa giggled.

Ryan gave her a small grin and said, "You all know what I mean."

"Alrighty then, what movie?" Seth asked as they all moved into the living room.

"Anything but 'When Harry Met Sally'. I can not take that movie more than once a week and she's-" Ryan pointed at Marissa, whom gave an innocent shrug, "made me watch it once already this week."

"I know what you mean," Seth said sympathetically. Seth turned to the two girls and said firmly, "No more Harry and Sally."

"That's fine," Marissa answered smiling mischievously.

Ryan and Seth exchanged confused glances. "Are you sure?" Ryan asked.

"I was expecting more of a fight than that," Seth admitted.

"Yes, we're sure," Marissa said as Summer nodded.

"What are we going to watch then?" Seth asked, although he wasn't completely sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"Clueless!" Summer and Marissa exclaimed in unison.

Seth rolled his eyes. "Could we, like, totally, watch another movie?" he asked in a mimicking tone.

Summer linked arms with Marissa as the two headed over to the huge flat screen TV. "I think you'll just have to live with Clueless for tonight, dear," Summer said as she glared at Seth.

Seth took a deep breath and again decided to let Summer's comments fly by him. He did, however, turn to Ryan and grin. "I guess we should have been able to see that movie coming next," Seth said rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, I know, it's all she ever wants to watch if I refuse to watch our dear friends, Harry and Sally," Ryan said laughing.

Soon enough, the two couples had settled down onto the couches and began watching Clueless. Other than the fact that Summer was sitting about three feet away from Seth, everything was going smoothly until the phone rang about half way through Clueless.

Seth started to get up to answer the phone, but Summer shot him one of her famous death glares and snapped, "Sit down, the machine will get it!"

Seth obediently sat back down and after a couple of rings, the machine answered the phone. "Hi, you've reached the Cohens. Leave us a message at the beep, thanks!" Summer's voice rang out in a cheerful tone.

"Hello, this message is for both Seth and Summer Cohen. My name is Kara Clarke, from Ryan Atwood's office. I'm just calling to let you know that in approximately a month, Ryan will be moving away to New York to help open up our new building out there. Therefore, you will have a new associate assigned to all your cases. If you have any questions, you can give me a call back at 555-5123. Thank you, good night!" Kara hung up the phone and suddenly it was very quiet in the Cohens' living room.

There was an awkward, tense silence that lasted for at least five minutes after Kara had hung up. Finally, Marissa spoke up. "Isn't that interesting?" she asked. Her voice sounded ice cold and, at the same time, emotionless. "My husband is moving to New York. With out me," she said. Now, her voice had become more angry and outraged.

Marissa was glaring angrily at Ryan, Summer was staring in disbelief at Ryan, and Seth was just pondering in his little head how long this fight was going to last. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Seth said something that shocked even him. "Wow, Ryan. I told you that you should tell her yourself before she found out some other way," Seth blurted out. Even HE wasn't sure why that had come out of his mouth.

No one in the room was glaring at Ryan anymore. Now, they were all glaring angrily at Seth.


	8. Allergies And New York

Author's Notes: Thank you all so much for the reviews, I love getting them! I hope you guys like this chapter! I'll update after either five reviews or four days, which ever happens sooner! Also, you'll probably notice that this chapter is formatted a little differently then the rest have been…I will fix and update the other seven chapters as soon as I can. So, please enjoy this chapter and please review! Thanks!

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Chapter Eight

Summer's head turned to look at Seth. "You knew? And you didn't tell me? Summer shrieked angrily.

Before Seth had a chance to answer her, Marissa joined in. "YOU KNEW? You know, Ryan-" Marissa snapped her head in Ryan's direction before looking back at Seth, "has done stupid stuff like this before, but you-YOU-you have never been one to lie to ANYONE. I CAN NOT believe you didn't tell me about this! Or at least tell Summer! She would have told me! I CAN NOT believe it! Two of the most important people in my life! Both could easily lie to me and not feel the need to tell me about something important!"

"What is wrong with the both of you?" Summer screamed. "I can not believe you didn't tell me that my best friend is moving away!" Summer snapped at Seth.

"Well, I tried to tell Ryan to tell Marissa-" Seth started.

Hearing this, Marissa whipped around and glared at Ryan. It seemed she had just remembered he was standing in the room. "Hello? Ryan? Were you planning on telling me you were moving or what?" Marissa yelled.

Ryan glared at Seth, whom shrugged helplessly. Seth looked as if he wanted to be anywhere else in the world, but in his own living room at that moment. "Thanks, man," he muttered before turning to his wife. "Marissa-" Ryan started to defend himself.

"How long have you been thinking about moving out there? How long, Ryan Atwood?" Marissa screamed. She was getting angrier and angrier by the minute.

Summer looked around the room. Seth was busy gaping at Marissa and Ryan's fight, Marissa was busy yelling, and Ryan was busying looking helpless. She slowly pulled herself off up the couch and took a few steps closer to the hallway. No one had even noticed she had moved; there were all too busy with Marissa and Ryan's fight. She moved a few backwards a few more steps before turning around and hurrying out of the room. She went up the stairs to the master bedroom. She didn't want to listen to Marissa and Ryan fight, and, besides that, she had to take her fertility pill.

She popped the pill in her mouth and washed it down with three huge gulps of water. She had such a horrible headache and felt so tired. She rubbed her forehead slowly as she tried to make the pain go away.

"What are you doing?" a very suspicious voice asked from behind Summer.

Summer jumped at least three feet before she turned to see Seth standing there. In her surprise, she knocked several more bottles of pills out of the medicine cabinet, which fell to the floor. She dropped the fertility drugs into the pile of bottles. Summer glared at Seth. "You scared me!" Summer snapped. She now had both her hands over her heart as she breathed in deeply. "Were you trying to kill me?" Summer snapped again.

Seth stared at Summer as a frown formed on his face. "What are you doing?" Seth repeated as he stared at Summer's eyes. She looked flushed and embarrassed.

She looked away from his gaze and shrugged helplessly. "Just taking my allergy pill," Summer replied as she forced a smile to appear on her face.

"Why?" Seth asked her as he continued to stare at her with the same frown and same suspicious look on his face.

"Why what?" Summer asked as innocently as she could manage. She was almost positive that Seth knew she was lying. She avoided looking directly at him, which she knew was probably a mistake, instead of a way of concealing the fact that she was lying. Unfortunately, she couldn't help it; she couldn't look at him as she told him lie after lie.

"You're only supposed to take your allergy medicine when your allergies are bugging you," Seth told her pointedly.

"Thank you, Dr. Seth. What other helpful advice do you have?" Summer snapped as she brought her gaze back up to his eyes so she could glare at him. "For your information," Summer said as she put her hands on her hips, "my allergies have been horrible lately and I couldn't take it anymore. So I came up here to take my pill." Summer flipped her dark brown hair over her shoulder and added, "Plus, I don't know about you, but I don't want to be anywhere near Ryan and Marissa when they're fighting."

"Don't change the subject," Seth warned Summer in a stern tone.

"Don't talk to me like that," Summer replied in a snappy way.

"Summer, your allergies aren't acting up," Seth said confidently.

"Were too!" Summer argued. She felt as though she was five years when they she replied with that, but she didn't care too much at that particular moment.

"Were not," Seth answered with the amount of maturity.

"I'm not having this conversation with you. My allergies were bugging me so I took my allergy medicine," Summer told Seth. She was speaking to him in her 'so there' tone of voice.

Summer leaned down and started to pick up all the bottles that had fallen to the floor. Seth leaned down to help her pick up the bottles. "Seth, I've got it!" Summer snapped as she snatched two bottles of pills out of his hands. The fertility drugs were somewhere in that huge pile of bottles and Summer had to make sure she found them before Seth did.

That was the final straw for Seth. "Okay, I don't understand why you're so ticked off at me, but I'm trying here, Summer. I'm only asking that you try, too," Seth told her in as calm of a voice that he could manage at the moment.

With that, Seth walked out of the bathroom and headed back down stairs. Summer's eyes flooded with tears. She knew she was crabby and snotty, even more so than normal right now. The last thing she wanted to do was push Seth away, but she couldn't help it. She felt like she could actually feel her hormones raging and it was driving her crazy. Why couldn't she just act normal? Why did those stupid drugs have to have so many stupid side effects?

She bent down again and finished picking up all the bottles that were left on the floor. She carefully put them all away in the medicine cabinet. She decided not to put the fertility pills back in the medicine cabinet because, after all, it had been a stupid place to put them in the first place. Seth could have accidentally found them. Now that Summer thought about it, she was actually surprised he hadn't found them. Either way, now he would probably be suspicious about the allergy pills and Summer didn't want him to find the fertility drugs in the medicine cabinet.

She took them into the bedroom, went to her side of the bed, and sat down. She pulled open the drawer in her bedside table. She pulled out some magazines and make-up. She threw some more stuff on the bed before putting the pills in the drawer at the very bottom. She carefully piled everything she had taken out of the drawer back on top of the pills. She then closed the drawer and walked out of the room.

Back downstairs, Marissa and Ryan were still screaming at and arguing with each other. It appeared to Summer that they had gotten absolutely nowhere. Summer crept over to the living room entrance and stood behind Seth as they both listened to Ryan and Marissa argue.

"You've known for three months! Three months! Twelve weeks! About 90 days! A billion minutes and a zillion seconds! Why didn't you tell me? All these months you've been lying to me! Telling me lie after lie! For three months! You never mentioned or even suggested moving anywhere. Not even out of this neighborhood! Much less, moving all the way across the country to New York!" Marissa screamed. She stopped screaming for a minute, but appeared to get a second wind quickly. "I can't believe you! Three months! Three whole MONTHS! THREE!" Marissa yelled.

"Marissa! I didn't think you'd react well if I told you we might need to move to New York so I didn't tell you. I should have, but I didn't. And, by the way, I wasn't so wrong about the first part of this!" Ryan argued as he glared at a flushed and angry Marissa.

"Did you even consider how I was going to feel? Or did you just think I wouldn't mind moving away with out any notice what so ever?" Marissa was still yelling. "Or were you just thinking of leaving me here? You could just run off without a word and leave me to raise your child!" Marissa screamed in an accusing tone. Her voice was getting impossibly louder and louder.

"Marissa, stop it right now! You know darn well that I would not run off and leave you. I wasn't sure how to handle this transferring thing and I didn't want to upset you until I had a better idea about how I felt about it so I didn't tell you. I'm sorry, but this hard for me, too. It's not just about you, you know," Ryan snapped.

"'It's not just about you, you know,'" Marissa mimicked. "Are you kidding me? You didn't even bother to tell me! If you had, I could have helped you and been there for you. But, oh, did you tell me? NO!" Marissa retorted angrily.

"AGAIN, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about moving, but I still don't even know what to do about that!" Ryan yelled back to her again.

"Well, Ryan, I know exactly what I'm going to do," Marissa said sharply. Marissa turned away from Ryan and stomped to the front door. "Thanks for having me," Marissa said to Seth and Summer, whom were still standing in the front hall outside the living room. Marissa grabbed her purse and jacket and walked out of the house, closing the front door loudly.

"Dude," Seth said as Ryan stomped out of the living room, "you're so sleeping on the couch tonight."

"You think?" Ryan asked sarcastically as he headed for the front door.

"Good luck with Marissa," Seth said to Ryan. Summer leaned over and hit Seth. "What?" Seth asked turning to Summer. She glared at him and shook her head. Seth rolled his eyes at her and walked to the front door. He opened it for Ryan.

"Well, thanks for having us…this was an absolute blast, we should do this again really soon," Ryan told Seth.

Seth grinned at Ryan. "At least you haven't lost your sense of humor," Seth said laughing.

"I'll always have that, right?" Ryan shot Seth a tight smile. "Bye, Sum, I'll talk to you guys later," Ryan added as he turned and looked to Summer, whom was leaning against the wall with a moody look on her face.

"Bye," Summer replied as she turned her head towards Ryan and waved good-bye to him.

Summer and Seth watched Ryan climb into his car and pull it out of the driveway. When the car turned the corner and was out of sight, Seth closed the front door and locked it. "Well, it's been a long night, huh?" Seth commented.

Summer barely glanced at him as she turned around and headed to the kitchen. She got out a towel and cleaned off the table.

"Do you have to go the set tomorrow?" Seth asked her. He was trying to start up some kind of conversation with his wife.

"Yeah, I do," Summer answered curtly. She finished cleaning the table and threw the towel down on the counter.

Seth walked over to her and slipped his arms around her waist. "Then you have to get up early tomorrow…do you want to go to bed?" Seth questioned as he kissed the side of Summer's head.

"Yeah, I'm going to bed," Summer answered coldly as she pulled herself out of Seth's arms and headed up their carpeted stairs by herself.

Seth sighed to himself. He knew that something was going on with Summer, but he couldn't put his finger on what. The only explanation he could find was that she was upset with him for some reason. But what did he do? He couldn't think of anything that would make Summer angry with him. He supposed it didn't really matter what he did, just that he had to make it up to her. He needed to fix whatever was wrong between them. He hated when they were at odds and fighting. It just made so much more sense to be happy and together than mad and angry all the time. With all this in mind, Seth sat down at the kitchen table and started thinking about what he could do to make up for whatever it was he did.


	9. Making Up

Author's Notes: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! It means so much to me (it really does, I love getting reviews, as do most writers!) Okay, well as promised, here is the next chapter…I hope you guys like it, but, unfortunately, I don't think you will…I don't know what the exact, right words are to describe this, but it's not very good. It's sort of corny, but corny isn't the right word…I'd say cheesy but that's not really right either…well, it doesn't really matter, the point is, I don't think this is my best work. I tried to revise it, but it didn't really seem to work any other way either. HMPH! lol, don't mind me! Okay, so I would say I'll update after x-amount of reviews or x-amount of days, but, sadly, I'm going to my school's turnabout tomorrow night so I won't be home at all tomorrow and then I have to write a paper for school the next day. Hopefully it won't take me that long and I'll be able finish up Chapter Ten and revise it so you all can read it. (I'm pretty sure it'll be better than this crappy chapter so that's good for all you readers) One more side note, a lot of the drama that has been going on will seem like it's starting to be resolved in this chapter, but do not fret(haha), much more DRAMA is coming! Yay! Right?! Alrighty, so I'm going to stop rambling (much like my hero Seth) and leave you with this last message: PLEASE REVIEW, even if this chapter stinks (and don't be afraid to leave criticism for me because I do know that this isn't my "better" work). Okay thanks everybody! Have a good weekend! Love, Maddy

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Chapter Nine

Seth sat in his kitchen the following morning with his cup of coffee. Summer had gotten up about three hours before. She had gotten dressed, had some breakfast, and made the bed without saying a word to Seth. She sort of waved before stomping out the door. Seth could hear her speeding away in her car from their house. Seth sighed as he took a sip of the coffee he had been drinking.

He had come up with his 'plan' of action where Summer was concerned. He was going to buy her flowers, cook her a romantic dinner, and get her a new diamond bracelet. Seth was sure she'd stop being so moody after that. Or, at least, he hoped and prayed she would be somewhat less moody after that. Things had only gotten worse over night; he was pretty sure she was angrier now because he didn't tell her about Ryan and his moving-to-New-York thing.

Seth got up from the table and dialed his work number. It rang twice and then someone picked up the phone. "Hello, Cohen Productions," Seth heard Bianca's voice answer. "How can I help you today?" Bianca asked in a cheerful tone.

"Bianca, it's Seth. I'm taking a day off work today. If you could cancel all my appointments for today and reschedule them, that would be wonderful," Seth told her.

"Okay, you're the boss!" Bianca replied happily. "Oh, I'm glad you called then. Alex called about five minutes ago and left a message with me. He wants you to call him or have Summer call Kellie…he said something about having dinner with you guys sometime soon or something."

"Okay, thanks, Bee," Seth replied as he made a mental note to call Alex later that day. "I'll see you tomorrow," he added.

"Your welcome. I'll see you tomorrow," she repeated.

Seth hung up with Bianca and then got out the phone book. He looked up the florist that they had used for their wedding and dialed the florist's number. He ordered two dozen red and dark pink roses. Next, he had to pick out the bracelet. He sighed and rolled his eyes as he rubbed his forehead. This was the part he always hated-like he was really supposed to know what kind of jewelry Summer would honestly love. Seth decided he needed a woman's help with this part, so he dialed Marissa and Ryan's number.

Marissa answered the phone after three rings. "Hello?" she said.

"Hey, Riss, it's Seth," Seth told her.

"Oh, hey," Marissa said. Seth couldn't tell if she was still mad at him or not.

"Okay, so I know last night didn't go well and I'm sorry I didn't handle the whole Ryan thing better, but I need you to do me a favor. If you don't feel up to it with everything that happened last night and the fact that you're, like, eight months pregnant and-" Seth started to babble.

"SETH! You're babbling!" Marissa interrupted.

"Sorry," Seth said sheepishly.

"You know what? Whatever the favor is, I'll do it because I'm bored and I really need to get out of this place anyway," Marissa informed Seth. "And, FYI, I'm not mad at you anymore because I realized last night, after I calmed down, that it's not your fault Ryan's such a dumb moron."

"Okay, well, great. I need you to go jewelry shopping with me and help me pick out a diamond bracelet for Summer," Seth told her.

"Sounds fun. What did you do that you need to give Summer a diamond bracelet?" Marissa asked curiously. "You aren't buying her a bracelet because of last night, are you?"

"No, I'm not, and I didn't do anything. Can't a husband buy his wife a nice bracelet?" Seth asked innocently.

"Well, maybe, but not usually. It's not her birthday…or a holiday…plus, I definitely saw all those death glares she kept shooting you last night," Marissa said honestly. "So I know you did something."

"Well, I will tell you as much as I know-which is nothing," Seth informed Marissa frankly.

"What do you mean? You don't know why she's so mad?" Marissa asked.

"Nope, not a clue," Seth replied. "Which is why I'm getting her the bracelet. I figure it may just make up for whatever I did. Which I don't know what I did. But that's okay."

"Seth, you're starting to babble again!" Marissa said as she laughed out loud.

"Sorry," Seth apologized again. "I'll come over and pick you up in about half an hour, how does that sound?" Seth asked.

"Sounds good. I'll see you then," Marissa replied.

Half an hour later, Marissa and Seth were headed to the jewelry store. "So…can I ask if you and Ryan worked things out last night?" Seth asked cautiously.

"Yes, you can ask…and, no, we did not," Marissa replied.

"And…?" Seth prompted Marissa.

"Well, we really didn't have a chance seeing how I stormed upstairs and slammed the bedroom door," Marissa admitted sighing. "He slept on the couch and when I finally got up this morning, he already left for work."

"Hmm, I was right…" Seth muttered. Marissa gave him a confused look. "Never mind…well, I know you probably don't want my opinion, but it's me, so you know you're going to get it," Seth told her honestly.

"That's fine, but don't be too mean," Marissa teased.

Seth smiled at Marissa, but then suddenly became very serious. "You know he loves you…I think you guys really just need to talk this thing out. I know everything's going to be fine," Seth said in a reassuring voice.

"I'm glad you think so," Marissa said softly.

"You will work it out, Riss," Seth repeated. Marissa shot him a small smile as they pulled in to the jeweler's parking lot.

* * * * *

Hours later, Seth was standing in the front hall of his home, waiting for Summer to come home from work. In one hand, he had the bracelet he and Marissa had picked out wrapped in a silver, glittery box with a bow on top. In the other hand, he had a bouquet with red and dark pink roses. It had a card that simply said 'I love you'. Seth was almost nervous as he stood there waiting for Summer to come home. Perhaps it was because he was worried she'd still be mad or just because he hadn't really done anything this romantic since he proposed to her. That, in itself, was probably another problem for them to deal with.

Seth sighed and started to head to the kitchen so he could sit down and wait when he heard a car pull up the driveway. A few minutes later, he heard a key in the lock. He watched the door swing open and saw Summer's face light up when she saw him standing in the hallway with the roses.

The hallway was lit with red candles and rose petals were scattered on the floor, from the door to the kitchen. Summer looked at Seth and felt like she was going to cry. She knew she had been so horrible to him for the past few weeks and she knew that the reason she was being so moody was not only side effects of the drugs, but also because she felt so terrible about lying to him. And now, he had gone out of his way to plan a romantic evening with her. As she crossed the room to hug him, she told herself that she didn't deserve this and that she should tell him right now about the drugs.

Seth handed her the flowers and said, "Read the card."

Summer did as she was told and opened the card. She gave in to herself and let a few tears fall down her face. "I love you, too," Summer whispered as she dropped the flowers on the table next to them and wrapped her arms tightly around Seth.

Seth ran his hand through Summer's hair and sighed happily. He was so grateful that she was in his arms, like he knew she should be. Although, there was one thing he was worried about. He gently pushed her back at little so he could see her face. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Seth asked as concern filled both his voice and his eyes.

Summer wiped her tears away from her eyes and smiled at him. "Nothing's wrong," Summer said. "You are just so sweet," Summer paused. "I love you so much," she whispered softly as she flung her arms around him again and held on to him tightly.

Seth had a surprised expression as he hugged Summer back. Something had definitely changed. One minute she was angry with him and the next minute, she was saying how much she loved him. All the sudden an idea popped into Seth's head. Maybe Summer was having this weird moody thing because she was pregnant. Didn't pregnant women have a lot of mood swings? Seth thought about this to himself and then, once again, he blurted out what he was thinking. "Are you pregnant?" he asked in a confused voice.

"No, no, I'm not," Summer said as she pulled away from him. "Why would you say that?" she asked in a surprised voice.

"Come here, let's sit down," Seth said as he led her over to the stairs. They sat down on the steps and Seth took her hands in his. "Listen, Sum, you know that I love you, but lately you've been…well, you haven't seemed to be very happy with me and now…you just seem…happy now…it seems like maybe you're having…mood-" Seth was having a hard time saying what he wanted to say when Summer interrupted.

"I know, I know…I know I've been acting like I've been having mood swings and I'm sorry, sweetie," Summer told him. "I'm not pregnant, just stressed out. I'm so sorry, baby, I truly am. I know I've been a nightmare lately and I am promising you that it's going to change."

Seth put one hand on the back on Summer's neck and pulled her closer. He leaned his face in towards hers and kissed her. Summer felt a shiver go down her back. They hadn't kissed like that in weeks, which was mostly her fault because she had been so grouchy and angry all the time. When their lips finally parted, Seth smiled at Summer and said to her, "I have something else for you." Seth stood up, picked up the silver wrapped box, and handed it to Summer.

"Seth, you've done enough already," Summer said sighing happily as Seth handed her the box.

"Does that mean you don't want it?" Seth teased. "Because I could take it back."

Summer smiled mischievously at him. "Um, nope. I still want it," Summer laughed.

"Alright, I expected that," Seth said as he sat down on the stair next to Summer and kissed her forehead. "Okay, we all know you want to open it, so go ahead!" Seth told Summer, whom smiled and opened the present. She pulled out the bracelet and slipped it onto her arm.

"Oh, my gosh, Seth, it's beautiful! Thank you, it's perfect! Just like you," Summer squealed happily as she turned to Seth and placed her lips on his. He placed his hands on her lower back and kissed her passionately. Soon enough, both were missing articles of clothing as they continued to kiss deeply and fiercely at the bottom of the stairs.

Seth pulled away from Summer for a barely a minute so he could say something to Summer. "Should we take this up to the bedroom?" he asked as he cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows suggestively at Summer.

Summer giggled as they raced each other up the stairs and down the hallway to their bedroom.

* * * * *

Marissa was sitting alone in her living room, channel surfing. Ryan had gotten home from work about an hour early, but he had gone straight to his at-home-office without saying a word to Marissa. Not that she had attempted to talk to him either. But that's how it was with them-when they fought, they pretty much just ignored each other until one of them gave in and talked first. They truly had a need to work on their communication skills.

Marissa sighed and decided enough was enough. She was going to go talk to Ryan and work this out. She hated arguing with someone who meant so much to her. Marissa pulled herself off the couch and went to Ryan's office. She knocked on the door and opened it. Ryan looked up and seemed surprised to see her standing there. Not happy or sad to see her standing there, just surprised.

"I want to talk about New York," she blurted out at bravely as she could.

Ryan sighed. "Okay, I guess we should," Ryan agreed.

"Well, Ryan, I don't really know where to begin. I guess I should just begin with how upset I am that you didn't tell me about New York. I don't understand why you don't trust me enough to tell me about things like this," Marissa said as she looked at Ryan.

"Riss, it's not that I don't trust you. I just didn't want to upset you and I know how upset and hurt you would be if we had to move to New York. I know you love it here, despite your mother and Caleb and everything else," Ryan told her. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about New York sooner than this," Ryan said honestly. He got up from his desk, walked over to Marissa, and pulled her in for a hug.

Marissa wrapped her arms tightly around him and smiled to herself. Maybe they were getting a little bit better at their communication skills. "Okay, so do we have any choices in the matter of moving to New York?" Marissa asked as they pulled apart and sat down together on the green puffy couch in the room.

"Some what," Ryan said sighing as he rubbed his forehead. "First, of course, we can agree to go to New York and live there for a while. Second, I could turn down the offer and hope my boss doesn't fire me. Third, I could try talking to my boss some more about getting someone else to go, but I've already tried that twice and I didn't really get anywhere either time."

"What if…you say yes to the offer and move to New York and I come out and stay with you every weekend," Marissa suggested.

"Marissa, that's insane. We'll hardly see each other, it'll get expensive with all the flying, and to top it off, I'll hardly be around to see my daughter or son," Ryan argued. "We can't do that. It would be like abandoning you and our baby and I'm not doing that."

"Okay, but people have made it work before. Also, it's not like it would really be a problem money wise because we're pretty well off if you remember correctly," Marissa pointed out.

"Yes, but do we have to blow all our hard earned money on weekly round trip plane trips? I don't think so. I think there's a better solution," Ryan disagreed.

"Okay, okay, I know that's not the best choice, but none of these choices are the best. If we go to New York, we'll be away from everything we love and I will lose my job. If we don't go to New York, you'll probably lose your job. If you go and I visit you, then we'll see each other less until you either move back here or until I move out there. None of these choices are perfect, but you know what, Ry? Marriage isn't perfect, it can be hard, and it's not always fun. It's all about the choices you make and, whatever we do, we just have to stick together and make it work for us," Marissa told Ryan confidently.

"Okay, alright, I get it. Why don't we both think about all our choices for a few days and then we can decide exactly what we want to do then, okay?" Ryan suggested as he took Marissa's hands in his.

"Okay, Ry, that sounds good," Marissa agreed as she reached over and kissed Ryan's cheek. Marissa then stood up and looked at Ryan. "Alright, I'm tired, I'm going to go to bed. Are you coming?" she asked.

"Yep, I'm coming right now," Ryan said as he got up, switched the light off, and headed upstairs with Marissa to go to bed.


	10. Shattering Glass And Other Things

Author's Notes: Sorry about the wait (again)! We keep having problems with our internet service and connection and all, so here I am (finally). I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you to everyone who reviewed, I appreciated every one of those reviews I got! Thank you so much! Enjoy and please review again!

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Chapter Ten

"Okay, everyone! Let's take this from the beginning of breakfast!" Mark Kilarski ordered as he clapped his hands loudly together.

Summer turned to look at Mark, the director, and the two shared a frustrated look. Summer sighed as she moved to her first cue. This was the ninth time they had tried to shoot the breakfast scene from this camera angle. She watched as Mark gathered up her TV daughters and sons again. The five kids scattered onto the set and all took their positions.

"Take ten," one of the young interns said in an exhausted voice.

"Mom, who's picking me up from school today?" a blonde thirteen year old named Michelle Cox asked.

"Your grandmother. Do me a favor and don't give her any fashion advice today, alright, Sarah?" Summer replied as she poured five glasses of milk.

"What?!" Michelle shot Summer a innocent look. "It's not _my fault_ she dresses like she does. I'm just trying to help."

Summer held her breath. This was the part the cast had been having trouble with today. Well, not the _entire_ cast. Just one part of it. The little dark brunette who played Summer's character's youngest daughter. _She _was the problem today and no one else.

The set was quiet for a good two minutes before Melyssa Shirmer spoke. "I forgot my line!" Melyssa said grinning so that she was showing everyone all her teeth, minus her two front ones that she had lost. Melyssa started giggling as if she thought that forgetting her line was the funniest thing that ever happened to her. In Melyssa's case, Summer thought grimly, it _probably_ was.

There were scattered groans and moans from all over the set and a few muttered irritably, "Melyssa!" Melyssa, however, paid no attention and kept grinning and giggling, seemingly uncontrollably.

Summer could tell Mark was trying not to lose his temper and she completely understood how he felt. "Will someone please take Melyssa and go over her lines _again_?" Mark asked with his hands clasped tightly together.

Kayla, one of the interns, rushed forwards. "I'll take her," Kayla offered as she thrusted her hand out to Melyssa. Melyssa gladly took Kayla's hand in hers.

As they walked off the set, Melyssa started skipping and asked Kayla hopefully, "Are we done now? Do I get to go outside?" The set door slammed shut behind them and no one on the set could hear Melyssa anymore (and everyone seemed extremely grateful).

Summer sighed as she rubbed her forehead. She could feel a huge headache coming on. She turned around and sat down on a comfy chair just off the set. "Are you okay, Mrs. Cohen? You look like you don't feel well, if I may say so," Eliza Weber asked Summer timidly.

Summer fought the urge to roll her eyes and, instead, forced a smile on to her face. Eliza Weber was Summer's new personal assistant. Her old assistant had unfortunately quit because she was moving to another city to live with her boyfriend. It wasn't that Summer didn't like Eliza-she was really nice and sweet, but she was always so nervous. Besides being nervous, she was always scared of everyone! Summer didn't understand how someone could be afraid of everyone. A few select people, sure. But not everyone.

"You can call me Summer and, no, I'm not really feeling that well. Do you think you could get me some water?" Summer asked shooting Eliza a small smile.

"Yes, Mrs. Cohen," Eliza answered, her face turning red before she scampered off in the opposite direction to get Summer her water. Summer didn't both to correct her on the Summer/Mrs. Cohen thing.

By the time Eliza came back, Summer was feeling very weak and dizzy. Her stomach felt as if she had been punched repeatedly. Her head felt like someone had been pounding on her brain with a hammer. Overall, she didn't feel so swell. Eliza handed Summer the glass of water. Summer raised the glass to her lips, which seemed to use a lot of Summer's strength, if not all. She took a sip quickly, hoping it would make her feel better.

Summer was sure all she needed was a little water to make herself feel better, but she had been way wrong today. The water had had the opposite effect on her, making her feel sicker than she had felt minutes before. She felt herself starting to shake slightly and wondered if anyone else could tell she was shaking. She went to hand the glass back to Eliza and realized that she could no longer see Eliza. In fact, she couldn't really see anything at all-all she could see was a bunch of colors, dark and light, swirling around her into one mess of color, an ugly color. She couldn't hear anything either. Her throat seemed to be clamping up and she was having a hard time breathing. Summer was almost positive that this was what drowning felt like. The next thing she knew, the glass she had been holding fell to the ground and shattered-loudly, that was the only thing she could hear-and she felt a burning pain in her left arm as she felt her entire body hit something hard and cold. Then everything went black.

* * * * *

Summer's eyes fluttered slowly open. She gazed at her surroundings. Where was she? Where ever she was, she didn't recognize it at all and was pretty sure she had never been there before in her life. The walls were painted the ugliest, puck-y green color you had ever seen and could ever imagine. There was also a funny smell in the air, but she wasn't sure what that smell was either-wait, now she remembered what that smell was-old people.

Summer wrinkled her nose in confusion as she sniffed the air once more. Summer had started wondering and worrying about where she was again when she suddenly felt as if holding her head up like she was took too much strength, strength that she apparently didn't have anymore. She let her head hit the white pillows behind her. She closed her eyes and prayed that when she opened her eyes she would be back in her big, comfy bed at home with Cohen.

No such luck for her. She opened her eyes and saw that she was still in that ugly room with that disgustingly gross smell. She was now aware that her whole body hurt and ached. She felt a lot of the pain in her left arm and in her head, though. She looked down at her arm as if she was reluctant to do so. She could feel stabbing pains in her arm and was quite scared to look down at her arm. It was bandaged up and, in a few different places, you could even seen where the bandages had been stained by blood.

_Oh, my gosh, what has happened to me? _Summer asked herself silently as she stared at her wound, feeling more than slightly nauseous 

Suddenly, as if she had just remembered the throbbing pains in her head, her hands flew to her head. She quickly patted around her head as she looked for any bandages. She felt something on her forehead and found herself panicking when she felt it. She pushed on whatever wound was on her forehead, which, of course, turned out to be a big mistake. "Owwwwwww!" Summer cried out, dragging out the word as far as she could. She wanted to smack herself. Why on earth would someone push on their own wound like that? Maybe she had lost her mind and any common sense she had when whatever happened to her happened.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a woman said from Summer's side.

Summer snapped her head in the woman's direction immediately. There stood a tall, thirty something year old nurse, whom, judging by her nametag, was named Hallie. "What happened to me?" Summer asked feebly.

"You passed out at your work and nearly slipped into a coma," Hallie replied. "How are you feeling?" Hallie asked as she handed Summer some ice water in a paper cup.

"A coma? _How? Why?_" Summer asked. "Am I going to be okay? What happened to my arm?" Summer could feel the panic rising quickly in her.

"Shh, calm down…you must keep calm or you could possibly pass out again," Hallie warned Summer sternly. "So, please, try to be calm…very calm."

"Okay, okay, okay," Summer agreed as she breathed in and out deeply. She was desperate to know what was going on and she was also just as determined to ignore the sharp stabbing pain she was feeling in both her head and her arm.

"You passed out because of the fertility drugs you were taking. Because of your medical history, you were building an addiction to the drugs and you weren't getting enough of them to satisfy the growing addiction. We managed to bring you back to consciousness before you were in a coma by using some counter-attacking drugs," Hallie explained calmly.

"Am I going to be okay? And what happened to my arm?" Summer said. She felt as though her head was spinning and she didn't think it was slowing down anytime soon. If anything, it seemed it was going to start spinning faster.

"When you fell, you dropped a glass, which shattered, and your left arm landed on the glass. You weren't badly cut, just bad enough," Hallie replied in a reassuring tone.

"I remember that!" Summer exclaimed meekly. It seemed as though her strength was coming and going rapidly.

Hallie nodded. "It'll all come back to you soon," Hallie promised. "Now, before you ask me again," a smile appeared on Hallie's lips, "you'll be fine as long as you stop taking those fertility drugs.

"WHAT?" Summer screeched as she bolted straight up and sat up. She couldn't stop taking the fertility drugs-at least, not until they actually worked. "B-but I need t-them!" Summer stuttered angrily.

"Dr. Kincaid is on her way down here as we speak so that she can personally speak with you about the drugs and what's the best plan for you to go with," Hallie explained. "Now-seriously-drink that water and calm down!" Hallie said sternly.

Summer reluctantly nodded because she didn't have the strength to argue back and drank the water. "Thank you," she said as she handed the empty cup to Hallie.

"I'll bring you some more water. Do you have anyone you want me to call? You'll be discharged in about a half hour, maybe a hour-tops," Hallie told Summer.

"Yes, Seth Co-" Summer started before stopping herself. She couldn't let them call Seth. She'd have to explain what happened then. "Um, Marissa Atwood. Her number is 555-8548," Summer told Hallie while placing a smile on her lips as she prayed silently that Hallie wouldn't ask about Seth.

Hallie didn't ask, just returned the same smile to Summer before saying, "Okay, I'll be back in a moment," Hallie told Summer before leaving Summer by herself in the ugly green room with the disgusting smell.

* * * * *

"Summer! I came down as soon as I got the call!" Marissa said as she rushed into the pucky green room. Her face was all flushed and red.

Summer looked at Marissa with concern. "Have you been running? Sit down," Summer ordered in a weak voice.

Marissa, however, wasn't paying any attention to Summer's orders. Her eyes went from Summer's bandaged arm to her bandaged head to her pale face. "WHAT HAPPENED?" Marissa roared again.

"_I'll tell you if you sit down!_" Summer replied in a shrill voice.

Marissa rolled her eyes and sank into a stiff looking chair across the room. "Okay, I'm sitting, now **tell me**!" Marissa snapped.

"I fainted at work," Summer said simply.

Marissa's eyes flashed angrily at Summer. "You make it sound so simple," Marissa observed. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide with both anger and concern. "Oh, my gosh, this is a side effect of those _stupid_ drugs that you shouldn't even be taking in the first place!" Marissa accused Summer.

"It is not!" Summer lied, her tone matching Marissa's.

Marissa raised her eyebrows in a disbelieving way at Summer. "Um, let's see, do I believe you? Uh, nope. Sorry, Sum, but I've known you your whole life and I know when you're lying. Now tell the freaking truth. Right **now!**" Marissa demanded.

"This whole stupid thing was stress related," Summer lied again, waving her hand at Marissa in a dismissing way. 

Marissa jumped up from her seat and sprang to Summer's side at once. "I am not even remotely kidding Summer Marie Roberts, you are going to tell me, right now, the entire truth!" Marissa yelled.

"Fine!" Summer snapped as she was suddenly reminded that Marissa could be down right scary when she wanted to be. "It was from the fertility drugs! Are you happy now? I have to stop taking them, because the truth is I was building an addiction to them and if I keep using them, there's a good chance I'll fall unconscious again and slip into a coma! I'm never going to be able to give Seth the one freaking thing he wants! He wants a baby and I'll never be able to do that for him. He's never going to be a father. Do you know what that feels like?" Summer screamed as she started to shake and sob all over again.

Marissa could feel her heart breaking. She hurriedly wrapped her arms around Summer and leaned her head against Summer's. "Everything is going to be fine," Marissa said in a soothing voice while she smoothed down Summer's tangled hair.

"No. He's given me so much, ever since he knew me. I didn't ever do anything for him until our junior year. And you know what I did? I started out by talking to him. Not even saying nice things, no, saying mean things! Horrible things! And, now, the one thing, the only thing, he's ever wanted me to give him was a child. And I can't do that, not now, not ever. He's never going to forgive me for this," Summer whispered.

"Summer, there's nothing to forgive. It isn't your fault you can't have children," Marissa shook her head wildly after this came out of her mouth. "You don't even know for sure that you two can't have a kid. And even if you can't, Seth still loves you. He wants to be with you and he doesn't care about whether or not you two can have biological children. I know Seth would be willing to adopt kids instead," Marissa said reassuringly to Summer.

"Nooo," Summer sobbed. "Sure, he'd be _willing_, but we both know he'd _rather _have biological children!" Summer cried out. Her tears kept spilling down her face and she looked sorrowfully at Marissa. Marissa was starting to feel uncomfortable, which never happened when she was with Summer, when Summer said something that made her feel far beyond uncomfortable to be where she was standing. "You wouldn't understand. You can give Ryan everything he wants. You can give him his own biological child. You don't have to adopt. You could if you wanted to, but nothing's forcing you to adopt. You two don't understand this problem, you couldn't possibly. You have your kid. What's that feel like? Hmm? To have your own kid, Ryan's kid, growing this very minute inside of you. Think about that for a minute and then imagine never being able to experience that. I never will with Seth," Summer said in her "and-it-sucks-but-that's-the-way-it-is" voice.

Marissa felt like she had been punched in the stomach. She knew Summer wasn't trying to be mean or hurt her feelings, but she kind of had. Marissa buried these thoughts in her head and said to her best friend since what seemed like forever, "Summer, I'm sorry. I really am. I would do almost anything for you and Seth to be able to have kids. Again, you don't even know for sure that you two can't. It may take time, sweetie. You know how these things go. It doesn't always go as previously planned or in a perfect way. But I know that one way or another, you and Seth will have a kid. Probably kid_s_. You'll see, you just have to give it some time." Marissa wrapped her arms more tightly around Summer and whispered, "I promise you that you guys will have a kid, Sum. Just wait and see."

Summer nodded as the two continued to softly let their tears fall. Marissa hugged Summer, trying to come up with a way to comfort her. Suddenly, an idea popped into Marissa's head-it wasn't going to comfort Summer right now, but in the long run, this was what was best for her.

"I'm going to go grab myself some ice water. Do you want something?" Marissa offered.

Summer shook her head as she whipped her tears away. "No, no, the nurse is bringing something for me. Thanks though, Marissa. And thanks for being here for me," Summer said gratefully as she smiled sadly at her best friend.

"Where else would I be?" Marissa asked as she grinned at Summer. Summer returned the grin before Marissa walked out of Summer's room and closed the door tightly. "I'm really sorry about this Summer, but it has to be done," Marissa said softly. Marissa walked swiftly to the pay phone, put in her money, and dialed the number she knew by heart. As the phone rang, she prayed that Summer would forgive her and understand why she doing this.

"Hello?" Seth's voice came from the other end of the line.

"Seth, it's Marissa. I have to tell you something, something I promised I wouldn't tell anyone, but you need to know about this. I hope you're not mad at me after I tell you this, but I need you to know that I didn't not tell you because I didn't want to. The only reason I didn't tell you was because I promised Summer," Marissa rambled quickly.

"Marissa, you're rambling," Seth said in a half-joking tone. Suddenly he became very serious and said, "Summer's okay, right?"

"Seth, Summer has been taking fertility drugs. She didn't want you to know because she was doing it against your wishes and she knew you'd be angry with her. And, before you get mad at her, because I understand where you're coming from and I know that you do deserve to be some what mad at her, just think of her for a moment. She did this because she loves you and wanted to give you something you've always wanted. She feels horrible, like she has let you down," Marissa explained.

"MARISSA! You've been letting Summer take these fertility drugs! You know-I KNOW YOU KNOW-about her medical history! She can't be taking drugs like that! It's too dangerous for her, she could die! She told me that she wanted to think about the drugs longer before taking them! We canceled our follow up appointment at Dr. Kincaid's office and told her we'd schedule it again in a few weeks! I can not believe Summer would lie to me!" Seth yelled angrily. He took a deep breath as he prepared to start screaming angrily again when a thought suddenly formed darkly in his mind. "Marissa, why did you change your mind about keeping your promise? What happened? Is she okay? Tell me that she's okay, Riss," Seth said in a fearful voice.

"She's fine," Marissa said quickly.

"You promise?" Seth asked.

"I promise. She's about to be discharged," Marissa told him.

"Discharged? What happened to her, why is she in the hospital?" Seth demanded to know.

"She fainted a work, nearly slipped into a coma, and was taken to the hospital. She had them call me because she knew it from a side effect of the drugs she had been taking. She didn't want you to know and she certainly doesn't know that I'm calling you right now," Marissa told Seth. She was starting to feel very drained and wanted to sit down desperately. "Look, Seth, I'll bring her straight home. You can grill her then. But, please, I know how much she has you worried right now and how much she hurt you and I'm not saying what she did was good or right, but she did it for the right reasons. She really loves you," Marissa told him. "I'm begging you-don't go too hard on her," Marissa pleaded with Seth.

"Thank you for calling me and giving me a heads up. I can't promise I won't go too hard on her, but I will remember that she did it for the right reasons, which should help her case a bit, I guess," Seth said bitterly.

Marissa sighed. "I guess that's all I can ask you to do. I'll bring her home immediately," Marissa promised.


	11. Wrong Thing, Right Reason

Author's Notes: Alrighty, new chapter! (Finally-right? I know, I've been bad-sorry!) I took awhile to write this chapter, I hope its good because I spent a lot of time on it so it would really stink if it wasn't at least some what good…well what else? Um, next chapter will have two **major** "turning points" (I guess that's what you'd call them). Both turning points have to do with Seth and Summer so sorry to you Ryan and Marissa fans. Honestly, the next chapter that is supposed to have any good Ryan and Marissa parts isn't until chapter fifteen. So I'm sorry about that, but I think you'll be happy or contented (at least) with what will be going on with Summer and Seth. I will try to add some more Ryan and Marissa to the next few chapters, but right now it isn't planned. Sorry again! Anyway, I got to go and let you read this, so please enjoy this and PLEASE review! Thank you!

****

Chapter Eleven

Seth's mind was racing wildly as he pressed 'off' on the cordless white phone. IF Marissa was right, those fertility drugs had to be in the house somewhere. Seth was bound and determined to prove what Marissa said right or wrong before Summer arrived home. That way he'd know what to say to her when she came home. Or, at least, he'd have a better idea of what to say.

Seth decided to search for the drugs and hurried up the carpeted stairs. The first place to look was, of course, their bathroom. Summer kept all the medicine in their bathroom, in the medicine cabinet. Seth thoroughly searched the bathroom and found nothing. As he tried to think of a logical place Summer would hide something, nothing was really coming to mind. Perhaps that was because she never lied or hid things from Seth. Until now, that is.

He migrated slowly into their bedroom and looked around. It had to be somewhere easy to get to, but somewhere he wouldn't look on a daily basis. As his eyes scanned the room, they landed on one piece of furniture. The bedside table, next to Summer's side of the bed. The fertility drugs had to be in there. Seth couldn't even remember a time when he had opened that drawer. There had never been a reason to before now.

He moved swiftly to the bedside table and placed his hand on the handle. For some odd reason, he now felt extremely scared of opening the drawer. He could feel everything inside him turning inside out as he nervously breathed in deeply. He wanted to open the drawer so badly, so he could prove that Summer wasn't taking any fertility drugs. But Seth had a sickening feeling in his stomach. He could some how tell that when he opened the drawer, the opposite of what he wanted would be staring him in the face.

_Oh, would you get a grip? _Seth thought to himself grimly. _Okay…_Seth calmed himself down in his head. _Just open the drawer…open the drawer!_ Seth told himself. He reluctantly pulled the handle back and the drawer swung out. Much to Seth's relief, all he could see in the drawer was magazines and some makeup. He breathed a sigh of relief and started to close the drawer.

But then he stopped. Something, he wasn't sure what, was telling him to dig deeper into that drawer. Seth reached into the drawer and pulled out magazine after magazine. It seemed like the drawer was never ending so Seth pulled the entire drawer out of the bedside table and flipped it upside down onto the bed. He had effectively emptied the drawer. He started digging through everything on the bed until his hand finally hit something round and larger than the other makeup containers. He nervously pulled his hand out of the pile and, with a deep breath, glanced at what he held in his hand.

It was a bottle of fertility drugs.

Seth felt as if he had been punched in the stomach (which he had experienced many times in high school). He couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe it. She had lied to _him_. _His wife_ was lying to _him_. What was going on here? Sure, Summer was not always the nicest or most honest of people to everyone, but after they had started dating, she hadn't lied to Seth ever. She always told him the truth, no matter what it was.

Seth looked down at the bottle in his hands again. The woman he married, the woman he had loved all his life, the woman he _had trusted_-she lied to him. And apparently didn't mind doing it. He had looked down at the bottle again and saw the date the prescription was filled. Almost two months ago. She had been lying for two months straight to him. He sank slowly down onto the bed and let go of the bottle, which hit the floor and rolled away from him. How was he ever going to be able to forgive her for this?

* * * * *

"What did Dr. Kincaid say to you?" Marissa asked as she turned left out of the hospital parking lot.

"That I should tell Seth about the drugs," Summer muttered weakly.

Marissa bit her lip nervously. _I already did that for you_ Marissa thought grimly. "Well? Are you going to take her advice?" Marissa asked, praying and hoping that Summer was going to say yes. Maybe if she got home and told Seth, he'd be less mad at her.

"Nope," Summer said.

"Summer!" Marissa gasped as she shook her head in disbelief.

"What? I can't take them anymore, Katherine won't let me. She said in a few weeks we could try a different fertility drug, but I can't take the one I have any more. There's no reason for Seth to know and no way he'll ever find out," Summer said in her it-makes-perfect-sense voice.

Marissa contemplated telling Summer what she had done, but decided against it. She didn't want Summer to end up running away or doing something stupid like that. "So…if you start taking a different drug, do you plan on telling Seth about those ones?" Marissa questioned in a nonchalant voice.

"I guess…" Summer started. Then she shook her head and said, "I don't know…maybe, maybe not."

Marissa pulled the Jeep up the Cohens' driveway. "Well, here you are," Marissa said as she put the car in park. "Do you want me to walk you in?" Marissa asked.

"No, no, no, I'm fine," Summer said. She leaned over and kissed Marissa's check. "Thanks for dropping me off…and coming to the hospital in the first place," Summer said gratefully.

"You're welcome," Marissa paused. "Sum, please, talk to Seth, okay?" _Maybe if Summer beats him to it, he won't tell her that he already knew_ Marissa thought half hopefully and half desperately.

Summer rolled her eyes at Marissa. "Riss, no. I'll see you later," Summer told her. "Bye," Summer added as she slammed the Jeep door shut. She hurried up the front stairs to the door and unlocked the door. As she stepped into the house, she shut the front door with her foot and flipped the lock. She threw her keys down on the small, round table by the door and hung her coat up on the coat hanger.

She turned around to see Seth coming down the stairs. He was looking at her in a weird way, a way he had never looked at her before. He looked almost angry or mad, but not quite…actually, it was more disappointed then anything else. Summer felt shocked. Why was he staring at her like that? He had never looked at her like that before-like she had just disappointed him so much, like she had hurt him deeply. "Are you okay, sweetie?" Summer asked as her voice wavered a bit.

"How dare you ask me that," Seth said simply. He was unable to keep the hurt and pain out of his voice.

"What?" Summer asked, feeling more and more nervous by the second.

"Don't you have anything you want to tell me?" Seth snapped. His eyes were flashing at her angrily.

"No, I don't. What? What are you talking about?" Summer asked. Her voice was filled with concern and worry.

"Don't even pretend anymore. I can't believe you. How could you lie to me? And for so long, Summer?" Seth questioned angrily.

"What are you talking about?" Summer asked again, panic raising in her throat as she became increasingly more worried and upset.

"I **_swear_**, Summer, if you make me say it…" Seth's voice trailed off and he glared at Summer coldly.

"What?" Summer asked, feeling self-conscious as Seth stepped closer to her and let his glare intensify.

"You're actually going to make me say it. I can not believe it. Summer, why didn't you tell me you where taking fertility drugs?" Seth shouted. He felt like he was going to burst if he waited for her to admit that she lied much longer.

Summer stared at Seth unbelievingly. "Oh, my gosh," Summer said. She let herself fall onto a chair in the hall. She felt panic rising higher and higher inside of her. "W-w-who told y-you?" Summer stammered slowly.

"Who cares who told me? The point is that you didn't tell me," Seth snapped. Summer bit her lip. Seth looked like he was going to go through the roof any minute now.

"I'm s-sorry," Summer whispered as her eyes filled slowly with salty tears.

"Don't say that. You're not sorry. If you were sorry, you would have felt guilt. And I would like to think that in two-**TWO**-whole months, you would have felt enough guilt to be driven to tell me what was going on, but did you? No, you didn't. And I want to know why right this instant," Seth demanded.

Summer stood up. "You tell me who told you and I'll answer all your questions," Summer said, trying to bargain.

"I don't believe it! You lie to me and now you're trying to bargain your way to knowing who had to rat you out because you didn't trust your own husband enough to let him know what was going on with you!" Seth screamed. "Besides, how many people did you tell that you can't figure out who it was who told me about you and your _stupid_ fertility drugs?" Seth added angrily.

"Just Marissa and Katherine!" Summer screamed loudly.

"So who the _hell_ do you think told me?" Seth screamed back.

"Marissa?!?!" Summer screamed in disbelief. Summer's eyes were growing wide. Seth nodded at Summer. "Oh, she _did not_!" Summer yelled. "She _would not_!" Summer paused before adding, "I'm going to kill her! How could she do this to me? She promised she wouldn't tell you and she did!"

"Don't you dare blame Riss for this! It is not her fault that you lied to your husband! Did you think about that? You didn't lie to your boyfriend of a few weeks, you didn't lie to a casual friend, you didn't lie to a stranger, you **lied** to your husband!" Seth yelled. "Does that word mean anything to you? Does our marriage mean anything to you?" Seth screamed.

"Gosh, Seth! Don't say that! Of course, our marriage means something to me! It means the world to me, Seth, you know that! Oh, gosh, Seth, just don't say that-I love you, you know I do," Summer cried out as tears filled her eyes for the second time.

"Fine! You love me! Does _that_ mean anything to you? Because if it did, you wouldn't have lied to me, especially not for so long," Seth argued.

"Oh, Seth…" Summer voice trailed off as she shoot him a pleading look.

"Don't look at me like that. Tell me why you lied to me," Seth demanded.

"Okay, okay!" Summer said letting her voice break. "I lied to you because I knew you didn't want me to take those drugs. I knew you were worried about it and how they would affect me, but Seth-if you could just see the look in your eyes when we talked about having a baby. I could tell you wanted to have a baby more than anything else in this world. I know this is the only way we can have one. I had to do it. I had to do it for you," Summer whispered.

"Summer, you have got to know that it could have killed you to take those drugs," Seth said as his expression softened a bit.

"I know, I know…and I knew it then, but…I didn't care…I love you too much to let you down," Summer told him honestly as some tears slipped down her checks and more tears formed in her eyes.

"Summer, you could never let me down where that's concerned. I wouldn't care if you and I couldn't have a baby of our own. I'd still have you. I'd rather have you, alive, here, and with me, then have a biological baby of ours and you dead. Where would that leave me? My life would be over if yours was," Seth told her softly.

"Seth, you've done so much for me, all my life. I wanted, no, I want, to do this one thing for you. You've never asked me for anything and I've asked you for so much. I want to do this for you. I want to give you a biological daughter or son of your own. And I will. Eventually, no matter how many different fertility drugs I have to take, we're going to have a baby of our own. And I don't care what I have to do," Summer told Seth in weak voice, but also in a stubborn tone.

"Marissa told me what happened, with the hospital and all. What if you had died? What if you had slipped into a coma? I wouldn't have forgiven myself for not knowing about you taking the fertility drugs and how I didn't stop you. I wouldn't be able to live without you because if you died, a part of me, a huge part, would die, too. I want us to have an honest marriage, without all these secrets and lies. I love you and I always want to know what's going on with you," Seth told her.

"I'm sorry, Seth, I really am, I just really need to do this for you. I knew you wouldn't approve or, probably, even let me take the fertility drugs if I told you that I was going to. I did this for you," Summer said as all the tears left in her brown eyes flooded out and splashed onto her face. "I'm sorry, I am so sorry," Summer sobbed.

Seth watched as Summer started to sob uncontrollably. He stepped closer to her and pulled her into his arms. He couldn't stand to see her in such horrible pain, especially knowing that she went through it all for him. "Shh…it's okay," Seth said reassuringly. He rubbed her back while he smoothed down her hair gently. After a few minutes, Seth pulled away from Summer and looked at her bandaged forehead and left arm. He reached up and gently let his fingers graze the bandage on her forehead. Even though Seth's touch was as gentle as it could be and even through the bandage, she could still feel the sharp pain well. She winced slightly as he whispered, "How bad is it?"

"It's going to be fine," Summer whispered back. She stepped closer to Seth and laid her head down on his shoulder. He put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"Why don't I take you up to bed? Hmm?" Seth said to her, still whispering. "You look tired…plus I bet the doctor wants you to go straight to bed and rest, huh?" Seth added. Summer nodded slowly. She held up three fingers at Seth. Seth looked at her. "Three what?" Seth asked.

"Three days to rest," Summer said in a low voice that was weak and little unlike her normal voice.

"I'm going to carry you upstairs, sweetie," Seth said to Summer as he bent a little to pick Summer up. Summer nodded and laid her head against Seth's shoulder. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and closed her eyes, letting a deep sigh escape from her mouth. She was already drifting off to sleep when Seth reached their bedroom. He pulled back the covers with one hand and then slowly laid Summer down on the bed. He pulled the covers over her just in time to hear her whisper to him, her sentence broken up because she was so exhausted, "Seth…stay here…with me…please."

"I am, Sum," Seth said turning around. He climbed into the bed on his side and pulled Summer closer to him. She leaned her head against him, as he took her hand in his, and she fell asleep just like that.

Even though he still felt some anger towards Summer, he had to admit he was happy to have Summer in his arms again. She looked so peaceful and angelic as she slept in his arms that he couldn't help, but forgive her. After all, she did something wrong, but she did it for the right reasons and she was sorry for lying to him. That's all that mattered-that she was sorry. Seth kissed the side of Summer's head once last time that night before falling asleep himself.

* * * * *

As Marissa pulled up her driveway and parked the car, she found that she was still thinking about Summer and Seth. She was praying that Summer wouldn't be too angry with her about what had happened. She knew that Summer shouldn't be lying to Seth, but she also knew that she shouldn't be breaking her promises to her best friend. She just hoped that Summer would forgive her for telling Seth.

On the other hand, whether Summer had realized it or not, she had put an idea into Marissa's head that she just couldn't get out of her head. Summer had said how she wanted to take the fertility drugs for Seth so that she could give him something after all he has done for her. This made Marissa start to think about what she had done for Ryan, in all the time they knew each other. Marissa couldn't come up with very many things. Or, at least, not big things, not things that counted for a lot.

She walked up to her front door, pulling her key out, as she made her final decision. She wanted to give Ryan something, just as Summer wanted to give Seth something, because he was always doing things for her, but she never really did anything for him. She knew just what she had to give Ryan. She was going to move to New York. Because that's what Ryan needed from her at that moment.

She pushed the front door open and stepped inside her home. Her shoes clicked and clacked as she walked across the marble floor. "Riss? Is that you?" Ryan called from the kitchen.

"What are you eating?" Marissa asked as she entered the room, not bothering to answer Ryan's question, and kissed Ryan's cheek.

"Frozen dinners," Ryan said smirking at her. "I'm an excellent cook, did you happen to know that?"

"Really? I didn't know," Marissa teased back.

"Well," Ryan started as he pulled a forkful of macaroni from his bowl and pointed it towards Marissa's mouth, "try some." Marissa opened her mouth teasingly and let Ryan feed her the macaroni.

Marissa nodded approvingly. "That is excellent. You are an excellent cook. Soooo very excellent," Marissa said dragging her words out as she grinned at Ryan.

"So where have you been?" Ryan asked.

"Ugh, that can wait a few minutes, because I have something else to tell you first," Marissa told him. "Now, I don't want you to say anything, I'm just going to tell you this and we're going to go with my decision on this, okay?" Marissa said seriously.

Ryan raised his eyebrows. "Isn't it kind of dangerous to answer a question like that if you don't know what the decision is?" Ryan questioned Marissa.

"Maaaaybe. Take a chance. What are you, a whip?" Marissa teased as she became playful again.

Ryan laughed. "Fine, fine, I agree," Ryan nodded. "Now, what is it?"

"I've decided that we're moving to New York. It's a great business opportunity for you and we won't have to live out there forever," Marissa blurted out. She paused and then added, "Who knows? We might _even_ like it there!" Marissa smiled at Ryan softly.

"Are you sure?" Ryan asked as he put down the bowl of macaroni.

"Yes. You need this right now and I'm going to support you," Marissa smiled at Ryan reassuringly. "So…when do we leave?" Marissa asked.

"I'll talk to my boss tomorrow and find out," Ryan promised. "Thanks for this, Riss. I know it isn't going to be easy, but we'll be back in Newport before you know it," Ryan told her as he pulled Marissa into his arms and held her, as close as he could with her big stomach. As Ryan rubbed Marissa's back comfortingly, he suddenly remembered that he wanted to ask her something. "So where were you today?" Ryan asked.

"At the hospital with Summer," Marissa answered.

"What happened? Why didn't you or Seth call me? I would have come to be there!" Ryan said as his voice filled with concern for his sister-in-law. Marissa then quickly explained everything about Summer and the fertility drugs. When she finished, Ryan was staring at her incredulously. "Why didn't you tell me or Seth about it?" he asked angrily.

"Ryan!" Marissa exclaimed. "I couldn't break a promise to Summer like that. If Seth had asked you to keep a secret for him, I know you wouldn't have just gone and told Summer. What was I supposed to do? She didn't want him to know!" Marissa asked. She was shocked that Ryan was so mad about this.

"I'll be surprised if Seth forgives her for lying. How did he sound on the phone?" Ryan asked.

"He sounded upset and worried-_and angry!_ But he's definitely going to forgive her! What would happen if he didn't forgive her?" Marissa asked shaking her head at Ryan.

"Well, I'm thinking along the lines of a divorce, Marissa," Ryan told her simply.

"A d-divorce? Have you lost your mind? Why would they get divorced?! You have lost your mind, you're acting insane!" Marissa yelled.

"Oh, Marissa, calm down, all I meant was if he didn't forgive her it would probably just drive a huge wedge in between them, which would probably lead to more problems, and then, ultimately, a divorce. It's a logical path if he doesn't forgive her," Ryan explained to Marissa, whom was glaring at Ryan with wide eyes than normal.

"Why wouldn't he forgive her?" Marissa spat angrily.

"She lied about something pretty important, Riss," Ryan answered.

"Okay, so she did something wrong, but she did it for good reasons!" Marissa argued.

"Yes, but so what? Doing the wrong thing for the right reasons is still wrong. Summer knows that, Seth knows that," Ryan replied.

"Seth is going to forgive her," Marissa said trying to sound confident.

"I hope you're right. Otherwise, they are both in for a bumpy, rough ride," Ryan told her. "Either way, the next time I see Summer she'll be hearing from me…I can not believe she acted so stupid. She could have killed herself," Ryan said shaking his head sadly at the thought.

"Please! She's paid for what she did, she knows how upset and angry Seth is with her," Marissa argued.

"Marissa, can we stop arguing about this? We can come back to it in the morning and we can go visit Seth and Summer, you know, see how they're doing. Because, if you think about it, it doesn't really matter how we feel about it, it's how they feel about it," Ryan said to Marissa. "Why don't we go look at some of the houses in New York? The company sent over paperwork and pictures of a bunch of different ones that we could stay in," Ryan said trying to change the subject.

"Okay," Marissa said reluctantly as she gave in and let Ryan change the subject. As she followed Ryan into his study to look through the houses, she promised herself that they would go visit Seth and Summer the following morning and see what was going on now.


	12. Great News, Horrible News

Author's Notes: Hey, everybody! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update (two weeks, I think), but I've been busy and kind of sick and it hasn't been fun. L Anyway, so here's chapter twelve, complete with two big events, as promised. I hope you guys like it! Please review…I'll either update in fifteen reviews or five days. Also, next chapter will also be mostly (if not completely) Seth and Summer, but in about three chapters or so, I will have a much better plot line for Ryan and Marissa, I promise. Okay, so enjoy this chapter, I hope you like it, please leave comments, requests, ideas, suggestions, whatever you want to see happen…whatever you want to tell me, please do!! **Please review!** Thanks! Love, Maddy

Chapter Twelve

"Coffee?" Seth asked Summer the following morning.

"No, no thanks," Summer answered as she shot Seth a small smile. Seth walked up behind Summer and started to massage her shoulders.

"How are you feeling, sweetie?" Seth asked as he continued to massage Summer's shoulders.

Summer turned to look at Seth and shrugged. "Okay, I guess…my head still really hurts," Summer said as she pulled on a stray piece of fabric from the table cloth. She seemed kind of absent-minded and out of it, almost like she was in a daze.

"Do you need me to stay home with you today?" Seth asked as he played with Summer's long, dark hair.

Summer shook her head. "No, honey, I'll be fine…I have to go see Katherine today and, other then that, I'm just staying home and resting like Katherine ordered…" Summer said in a whisper as she breathed in slowly.

"Okay, what time is that at?" Seth asked.

"One. But you should stay at work. I'll be fine," Summer told Seth.

"Are you sure?" Seth asked. "It's not a problem for me to be there."

"I will be fine, I promise. I'll call you if I need anything or change my mind about the appointment, okay?" Summer said.

Seth was unsure of whether or not he should leave Summer home alone for the day. Her voice was getting stronger by the minute and her face was getting more and more color as the hours passed. He decided it would be fine if he went to work as long as Summer called him if she needed anything.

"I will go to work, but only if you promise me that you will call me the minute something hurts bad or the second you need something, alright?" Seth asked, still unable to keep the concern out of his voice.

"Honey, I'm going to be fine. Give me a kiss and then go to work," Summer ordered stubbornly.

_Yup, same old Summer…_Seth thought as he leaned over and kissed Summer on the lips gently. As he pulled away, he added, "Feel better, sweetie. Give me a call at work if you need anything…even if you just want me to come home or go to your appointment with you, alright?" Seth asked again.

Summer rolled her eyes and laughed weakly. "Just go, I promise I'll call if I need anything," Summer told him. With one more kiss good-bye, Seth left Summer in the kitchen as he headed off to work.

Summer decided that she wanted to go lay down on the couch and maybe take a small nap before she had to get ready for her appointment with Katherine. As she crossed the hallway over to the living room, she heard the doorbell ring. Summer answered the door to see Marissa standing there.

Summer's eyes narrowed at Marissa coldly. Deep down, Summer knew that Marissa needed to tell Seth what was going on because Seth deserved to know. Summer also knew that Marissa had tried to get Summer to tell Seth about what was going on and that she, herself, should have had the courage to tell him. All this, however, didn't mean that she wasn't still mad at Marissa.

"Sum, I had to tell him. I'm sorry," Marissa blurted out. Summer shot her one cold look before leaving Marissa at the door as Summer entered the living room. Marissa closed the front door and followed Summer into the house. "He deserved to know, especially since things were getting so serious. I tried to get you to tell him yourself, I really did, but you wouldn't listen to me. I tried, I did," Marissa repeated as she looked at Summer hopefully.

"I know he deserved to know and I know that I should have told him myself," Summer said in a voice just slightly above a whisper as she stared at the blank screen on the television. Her head snapped in Marissa's direction as she added, "But you-you didn't need to tell him what was going on, I mean, you didn't need to break your promise to me like that."

"I'm sorry. I know that it sucked that I broke my promise to you. And if I thought I had more time, or if I had had a different plan, I would have gone with whatever I could so that I wouldn't break your trust. But you have to know that I didn't have another option and that if I could have avoided this, I would have. I just wanted you to be safe and I knew that if Seth knows, he'll keep you safe and I won't have to worry about losing my best friend," Marissa explained sincerely.

"Fine…I know you didn't do it to be vicious or mean or anything…and that you had my best interest at heart," Summer finally agreed as she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"Good," Marissa said, shooting Summer a brilliant smile. "How are things between you and Seth?" Marissa asked carefully.

"We're going to be fine, don't worry," Summer said waving her hand at Marissa. "We talked about it and I think we're both fine with it now. We're going to work through it," Summer told Marissa.

"Okay, well, I hate to tell you this today, but I've got news for you, hon. Ryan and I are moving to New York for a while," Marissa said as she watched Summer's face carefully to see how'd she react to this.

Summer bit her lip. "Are you really?" she asked softly as she twirled her hair around her finger. Marissa nodded. "Well, I'm glad you guys worked that out…Seth and I are going to miss you guys so much. I wish you weren't going," Summer said sighing. "Hey, does this mean that Seth and I are going to miss Conner or Malerie's birth?" she asked reluctantly.

"Maybe, maybe not. Ryan's working out the details with his boss today. I'm not sure when we're leaving yet and I guess whether or not we're here for the birth will depend on what Ryan's boss decides today," Marissa told Summer.

"Well, it can't be too long, right?" Summer asked flashing Marissa a small, weak smile. "So what are you up to for the rest of the day?" Summer asked as a attempt to change the focus away from sad things like New York.

"We're house hunting today online and deciding what we're taking with and what's staying here and so on," Marissa said shrugging. "It's going to be very boring," Marissa sighed.

"House hunting," Summer said as she tried not to think of her aching head.

"Yup," Marissa replied as she looked at her watch. "Alrighty, well, I got to go home-Ryan's coming home after he talks to his boss so we can work out some of this moving stuff," Marissa explained.

"Of course," Summer said. "Have fun," Summer said as she walked Marissa to the front door. "I want to see pictures of the house you guys pick…call me later," Summer waved good-bye as Marissa climbed into her Jeep and pulled out of the Cohens' driveway.

* * *

A few hours later, Marissa was sitting down on their white carpeted living room floor as she and Ryan flipped through about ten thousand pictures and descriptions of houses in New York. "Ugh! There are so many houses and they are all so beautiful! I want them all, Ry," Marissa said as she sighed admiringly.

"Well, sorry, Riss, but I think we're only getting one this time around," Ryan teased.

"Okay, okay…well, let's see…we have to narrow this down some how…okay well, we want at least two bedrooms, right? One for us and one for Mal or Conner," Marissa explained logically.

Ryan shook his head. "Three bedrooms," Ryan said as Marissa shot him a confused glance. "Well, we're going to be there for a year to possibly almost a year and a half. We should get an extra bedroom so we can use that one as a guest bedroom. You know, in case, we have Summer and Seth come and visit us." Marissa grinned at Ryan. "Well, of course, maybe we could just live without Summer and Seth for an entire year," Ryan teased. Marissa had a look of complete horror on her face.

"Actually, Ry, I think that's a real sweet idea…okay, so three bedrooms…I guess the rest doesn't really matter," Marissa said as she flipped through a few more pictures and then threw them down into their own pile. "Okay, that is the 'no' pile. All those houses are either ugly or have too little bedrooms or way too many bedrooms," Marissa told Ryan. Ryan threw a few pictures and descriptions down into the new pile.

After about twenty minutes, Marissa shrieked, "Oh, my gosh! I have found the perfect house! It's Victorian, with a huge back yard. It's really too bad our baby will be too little to play on a swing set or something." Marissa flipped through the paperwork and scanned the description. "Oooh, look at those gardens!" Marissa said as she tossed a picture to Ryan.

"It's a beautiful house. Is that the one you want for sure?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, it's perfect and beautiful and charming-it's almost as perfect as this house. It's as close as we're going to get to home," Marissa said smiling at Ryan.

"Alright, I get it, you want this house," Ryan said as he gathered up the rest of the houses' descriptions and pictures. He threw them out in the nearby garbage can. "Okay, I'll go call work and tell them we picked the house that we want to put up in for the next year," Ryan said smiling at Marissa. "It really looks like a great house…you never know, maybe New York will become our second home," Ryan suggested as he shrugged hopefully at Marissa. He still felt desperate that she like New York when they went there since she was giving up the home she loved for a whole year, just for Ryan's benefit.

"Maybe, just maybe," Marissa agreed smiling at Ryan.

* * *

"Summer, how are you feeling?" Katherine asked as she stepped aside so that Summer could enter her office.

"Oh, better. Not a lot better, but better all the same," Summer said smiling weakly. "Really, I'm going to be fine," Summer said as she reassured Katherine.

Katherine smiled at Summer. "I think by the time you leave here today, you'll be much better than, um, better," Katherine said as she chuckled at her own weird wording. Summer glanced confusedly at Katherine. Katherine, whom noticed Summer's confusion, added, "Come in, come in, hurry, I've got great news for you and you are going to be so happy!" Katherine smiled excitedly as she hurried to sit behind her desk. She gestured for Summer to sit down in the chair across from her.

Confused, Summer sank down into the chair. "What's going on?" Summer asked nervously.

"Okay, I can't take the suspense of seeing your reaction and I'm sure you are wondering what all the suspense is about so I'm just going to tell you, okay?" Katherine asked smiling excitedly and widely at Summer. Summer barely nodded to Katherine, she was to confused for words or gestures at this point. "Well, Summer…they took some blood tests when you were at the hospital for the, um, accident, and they faxed over the results and-well-you're **_pregnant_**!" Katherine exclaimed smiling at Summer.

Summer, obviously not on the top of her game already today, had a slow reaction to this. "What?" she stammered about two minutes after Katherine had told her the news.

"You're pregnant!" Katherine repeated as she stood up. "Congratulations!" Katherine added whole-heartedly as she leaned over and hugged Summer.

Things were finally starting to register in Summer's head. _Oh, my gosh, Seth and I are having a baby!_ Summer exclaimed in her head. This was the best news she had gotten in months, maybe even years. "I'm pregnant!" Summer told Katherine proudly.

Katherine laughed and hugged Summer again. "I know, I know! I'm so happy for you!" Katherine said as she continued to smile radiantly at Summer. "Now, I have a number of a great doctor I recommend, just in case you didn't have a doctor already picked out…" Katherine said as she pulled a post-it off her desk and handed it to Summer. "And I hope to see you here soon so I can have an update on the baby." Katherine flashed another wide, whole-hearted grin at Summer, whom was smiling back at Katherine like crazy.

"Thank you so much, Katherine!" Summer said as she threw her arms around Katherine's neck and hugged Katherine tightly. _This is quite possibly the best day of my life!_ Summer thought happily to herself.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Summer pulled her silver Mercedes up the driveway and parked the car in the shade of a few palm trees. She walked up the stairs to the front door and let herself in. As she locked the door, she heard something fall in the kitchen. "Seth? Is that you?" Summer called as she felt her heart start to race. She couldn't wait to tell Seth what Katherine had told her.

"Hey, honey," Seth called back to her. "I decided to take my lunch now so I could go with you to your appointment," Seth said as he appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. "But I guess I missed it, huh? I had a long conference call and I hurried home as soon as I could. I'm sorry I missed it, hon," Seth apologized as he pulled Summer into his arms and kissed her forehead gently, careful to kiss her forehead on the opposite side from her bandage.

"Oh, you didn't need to come home to go to the appointment with me," Summer reassured him. "However, I am glad you're home because I have something…great and special to tell you," Summer said as she pulled away from Seth and took both his hands in hers.

"This sounds like important news," Seth teased as she tucked a strand of Summer's dark chocolate brown hair behind her ear.

Summer nodded happily. "It is very important news…something that will change our lives forever," Summer said as she started grinning like crazy. She was imagining in her head what Seth's reaction was going to be when she told him the news and now she couldn't stop smiling.

"That is the widest I think I've ever seen you smile…what's up?" Seth asked curiously.

"Okay, I went to go see Katherine for the check up and to talk about future plans, you know, fertility drugs, no fertility drugs, whatever, all that, you know?" Summer said as she realized she was rambling. Seth nodded at her and smiled as though he was trying not to laugh. "Anyway! So I went to go talk to Katherine and before I could even ask her what we should do next fertility-drug-help-wise, she tells me the most _excellent_ news I have gotten in years," Summer said smiling excitedly, as she remembered everything that had happened in Katherine's office that day.

Seth's eyes grew wide as he looked straight into Summer's eyes. "Are you telling me what I think you're telling me?" Seth asked slowly and carefully.

Summer nodded happily. "Cohen, I'm pregnant!" Summer exclaimed. Seth pulled Summer into his arms again as she flung her arms around his neck.

"Oh, Sum, I'm promising you here and now that I'm always going to be here for you and this baby. I love you so much, Sum," Seth said smiling as he grinned ecstatically at Summer. "I'm so glad that you're pregnant! This is so exciting, honey!" Seth smiled at Summer. Seth leaned in towards Summer and kissed her passionately. After a few minutes of a passionate and intense make out session, the phone rang.

Seth pulled away from Summer for a moment to grab the phone and Summer groaned. "Oh, come on, Cohen, let the machine get it…we're celebrating, may I remind you?" Summer teased as she leaned in to kiss Seth. Seth also began leaning in towards Summer, content with the idea of forgetting about the phone, when Summer caught something out of the corner of her eye. She could see the caller ID on the cordless phone and the three words she saw made her squirm as she began to feel her heart race again. This time it was racing from fear and not from excitement. "Seth…" Summer whispered as she stepped back. "Look at the caller ID," Summer hissed.

Seth turned his head. The caller ID read 'Newport Hospital, ER'. He turned and looked at Summer again. She was still staring at the phone with a pale, straight face. "Sum, calm down, it's probably just your test results or something like that," Seth said as he gave Summer a weird look as he reached for the phone.

Summer rubbed her forehead as she wondered why she had the creeps from the hospital calling. It was completely logical that they were calling with test results from the accident. Summer tried to reassure herself with this as Seth answered the phone, but, for some odd reason, she just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen to her. She turned and looked at Seth, whom had answered the phone. She watched his face as he listened intently to what the person was telling him. She couldn't quite work out what was happening because she had never seen this look on Seth's face before. "Thank you for calling and letting me know," Seth said in a strangely quiet tone as he hung up the phone.

Seth turned to face Summer and she was shocked to see tears forming in his eyes. Not only was she shocked, but she also felt very scared now that she knew that whatever the hospital had said made Seth sad enough to cry. She had only seen him cry once or twice before in all the time that they had been together. "Seth, what happened?" Summer demanded to know in a quivering voice.

Seth looked at her and bit his lip. He took a deep breathe and then looked Summer at her directly. "The hospital…called to say…Kellie and Alex were in a car accident…they…d-died…" Seth said slowly as he watched Summer's eyes fill with tears.


	13. The Letter

Author's Notes:  
Most of you are probably wondering where the heck I have been. I wasn't going to explain why I've been gone, but then I realized that if I don't, it just makes it seem as though I've not cared about my writing, this story, or those of you who faithfully have been reading it. So for those reasons, I feel that I should share with you where I've been. I last updated about mid May. One of my closest friends' father died three days after I posted that chapter and I was spending a lot of time with her. Finals were also right around the corner so I had my hands full until about mid June with all that. Since then I've been taking driver's ed at my school over the summer and also working two separate jobs so I was working on the chapter as best as I could, but it didn't seem to be coming out right. Then, about two or three weeks ago, my grandmother was in the emergency room so I completely gave up on this chapter for a while, but now, here it is. I hope you all will still continue reading this story, even though it hasn't been updated regularly. For those of you who do, it means very much to me and I'm very grateful for any of the faithful readers out there, whom continue reading this with the same dedication they exhibited before. Thank you so much and again, I'm truly sorry for not updating or at least making you all aware of the situations that have been stopping me from updating and writing. Also, I want you all to know that I am currently working on Chapter 14 very hard. So here it is...Chapter 13...please review! Thank you to everyone! With all my love, Maddy

BTW: If you don't remember who Kellie, Alex, or Elizabeth (nicknamed Ellie) are, please go back to Chapter Four "Ideas And Honors" and that should help you remember them. Thank you.

Chapter Thirteen

Seth turned on the lamp next to his side of the bed the following morning. He glanced around as he sat up. He had a horrible headache and his eyes felt kind of achy. Suddenly, he remembered what had happened. Kellie and Alex. They were dead. Gone forever. He rubbed the side of his face as he turned to look at his wife.

She looked absolutely terrible…her dark chocolate brown hair was tangled and strewn across her pillow, her face blotchy and pale, and she also looked very sweaty. As Seth continued to stare at his distraught looking wife, the phone began ringing shrilly. He reached over and picked up the phone quickly, hoping it hadn't woken up Summer.

"Hello?" Seth said hoarsely into the phone.

"Seth? It's Mrs. Carlson…" Mrs. Carlson's normally jolly tone was cold and almost bitter this morning.

Seth bit his lip. What was he supposed to say to Kellie's mother? "Mrs. Carlson, how are you?" Seth asked softly, deciding that was the best way to go for now.

"As well as can be expected, honey, I suppose. How are you? How's Summer?" Mrs. Carlson asked, her voice filled with concern.

"Summer's not doing too well…she spent most of last night sobbing…she basically cried herself to sleep…I'm doing okay, I guess," Seth trailed off, seeing as how he didn't really know what else to say.

"Well, I'm calling because I wanted to ask a favor of you two, but if you two aren't up to it, I completely understand," Mrs. Carlson said as she paused to blow her nose. "Kellie and Alex left practically everything to you two…I don't know if you knew that, but when you agreed to be Elizabeth's guardians, they left everything to you."

When Seth heard Mrs. Carlson mention Elizabeth, something suddenly hit him. Something he hadn't thought of when he heard the news of Kellie and Alex's deaths. Elizabeth was his and Summer's child now. Their child to raise. Their child to watch and guide and guard. He was astounded that he didn't think of that right away, but he decided he must have completely forgotten about her, on account of the shock of what had happened to Alex and Kellie.

"Naturally, you own everything then-the house, their cars, the furniture…you two need to decide what you want to do with everything. I was wondering if you'd be willing to go over…to their house and start going through some of their stuff. I normally wouldn't ask you to do this so soon after…their deaths…but you'll need to get Elizabeth's belongings, I suppose," Mrs. Carlson said quietly.

Seth really didn't feel like going through one of his best friend's belongings and choosing what to get rid of and what to keep and all that, but he knew Mrs. Carlson needed them to do it. "Of course, I'll go over there and start going through everything. I'll bring Summer with me if she's feeling up to it," Seth paused for a moment before continuing on. "Do you need help with the funeral?" he asked softly.

"Oh, no, dear, Kellie and Alex's siblings are all working on that already…we'll, of course, let you know when that will be…other than that, there is the matter of…giving you two…Elizabeth. I picked her up from the hospital last night…I don't suppose the hospital even told you she was in the car since she's perfectly fine…the thing is, Seth, I was wondering if my husband and I could keep her with us until the funeral…it just makes me feel a little closer to Kellie…" Mrs. Carlson said as her voice trailed off, slightly breaking at the end of the last sentence.

"Of course, Mrs. Carlson, of course, you can," Seth told her. "We'll bring her home with us after the funeral…that way we'll have sometime to fix up a bedroom for her…and bring some of her stuff over here…" Seth said as he wondered if what he was saying was the appropriate way to be saying it. Seth shook his head a little, he was so confused and tired.

"Alright, well, thank you, Seth…thank you so much, dear, I really…really wish I could go over there and help you two sort things out, but…I just can't…go into their house…just not right this instant, any how…" Mrs. Carlson let her voice trail off.

Seth took this opportunity to end their conversation because he wanted to wake Summer up, something he had never wanted to do before in his life. He didn't want to talk to Mrs. Carlson about two of his best friends being dead, he wanted to talk to his wife. He felt that he was probably being very selfish at that moment in time, but he didn't particularly care either. "It's not a problem, Mrs. Carlson, really. If you need anything else, just give us a call, we're happy to help you out with anything you need," Seth told her softly. "I'm sorry, but I have to go get Summer up now and make sure she's alright," Seth added. They exchanged good byes and hung up. Seth knew he had been slightly curt and short with Mrs. Carlson at the end of their conversation, but he felt desperate to hold Summer in his arms, to know that she was safe and still here with him.

He put the phone back in its charger and turned around to face Summer. She was still asleep, looking anything but peaceful or angelic. She looked restless and distraught as if she were in horrible physical pain, at that exact moment. Seth gently stroked her arm with his fingertips, trying to gently wake her up. It wasn't working very well as Summer just kept moving her arm away from Seth's fingers. "Summer…Sum," Seth whispered softly as he poked Summer's side gently. Summer didn't seem to be responding to this at all either, so Seth started poking her a bit harder as he continued to talk to her, "Sum…honey, it's time to wake up."

Summer swatted Seth's hand away and groaned. Seth knew that if Summer was swatting things away from her, she had to be awake. Seth poked Summer twice more and as he attempted to poke her for third time, Summer rolled slightly over and smacked his chest. "Stop it_ now_," Summer snapped. There was silence for a minute before Summer spoke up again. "I don't want to get out of bed…I don't want to _ever_ get out of bed again," Summer said, her voice cracking on the second sentence.

Seth listened as Summer's breathing became rapid and watched as her body started to shake violently as she let her tears out and sobbed. "Sum," that was all Seth could say as he pulled his wife into his arms. He ran his hands through her unkempt dark chocolate brown hair. "Shh…everything's going to be alright, honey," Seth whispered reassuringly.

Summer shook her head and then buried her head into Seth's neck. "I can't believe they're gone…we're never going to see them again…I'm never going to have another two hour phone call with Kellie again…never going to hear Alex make another one of his silly puns…" Summer kept going on with what she wasn't going to do anymore, but Seth had stopped listening.

Something that Summer had said made Seth think of something. Alex had called him just a few days a go at work so that the four of them could get together and Seth never called him back. He never even told Summer about that call. He had been so busy thinking of himself and Summer that he completely forgot about one of his best friends. And now that person, that best friend, was dead. Seth would never get another message from him and would never return his calls ever again. Seth shook his head in disgust at himself; he just couldn't believe that he could be so wrapped up in his own life to not think about Alex and Kellie. Now he would never have the chance to make up for that. Seth tried to push these dark thoughts out of his head, but it appeared as though they were there to stay.

Summer's voice interrupted these thoughts and helped Seth shove them to the side for awhile. "Did I hear the phone ring before?" she asked softly as she laced her fingers through Seth's. "Because I thought I did…" Summer added as she glanced around the room, almost as if she was looking at it for the first time ever.

"Yeah, you did, sweetie…Mrs. Carlson called and asked us to go over to…their house and start…sorting through their stuff," Seth explained. "Especially because we have to get Ellie's stuff out of the house and into ours." Seth watched Summer's reaction to this carefully.

Summer nodded simply as her eyes continued to fill with salty tears. If she had forgotten that Ellie was theirs now, she hid it well. She leaned up slowly and kissed Seth's forehead, whom responded by kissing Summer's temple. Summer then crawled off the bed and walked into the bathroom.

Seth pulled himself off the bed and followed Summer into the bathroom. "Sum, you don't have to come with me if you don't want to…I understand if you'd rather go a different day…it's going to take awhile to go through everything…they left it all to us…Mrs. Carlson told me," Seth explained slowly as he paused often and studied Summer's face.

"No, no, I…I need to come with today. If I don't go today, I won't be able to make myself ever go into their house," Summer told him softly. She raised her eyes to the mirror in front of her and glanced at Seth's reflection. "Thank you, though, Seth, for offering to go by yourself."

Seth stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Summer's waist. He leaned his chin against her shoulder and said, "Sum, we're in this together. Everything is going to be fine…I promise you that, sweetie." He kissed the side of her head gently.

Summer stared at her tear stained reflection and hoped that he was right, that someday in the future they would be fine.

* * *

Seth put the emergency key Kellie and Alex had given Summer and him when they moved in into the golden lock and turned it slowly. The door swung open noisily, making puffy-eyed Summer, whom was standing behind Seth, with her arms wrapped around herself in a protective manner, jump. For a few moments, everything fell silent again.

Then the pair heard little paws scampering along the wooden floors, coming towards them. It was Riley, Kellie and Alex's newly trained, newly bought, white and brown shih tzu.

Seth stepped somewhat cautiously into the house and picked up the puppy. "You're coming home with us, too, I guess," Seth said softly.

Summer glared at him. "You," she snapped, "can not just come in here and claim their stuff as yours." She then sank down to the floor and looked around glumly. "This is their stuff...it belongs to them," Summer whispered desperately as if she was trying to prove something. "Not us, _them_," Summer insisted quietly, yet firmly.

Seth sighed. Summer was having a very hard time dealing with Kellie and Alex's deaths. He, with Riley in his arms, sat down next to Summer on the wooden floor. "I know, Sum, I know," he whispered painfully as he leaned over and placed one hand lovingly on her arm.

Summer sniffed loudly as she took a long look at the room. Every thing reminded her of Kellie and Alex. Not only things in their house, but also things outside of their house. Simple things like violets (Kellie's favorite flower), Friday's (Alex's favorite restaurant), cheesy info commercials (Kellie's favorite thing to do was patronize these), and the home shopping network (oddly enough, Alex's favorite channel-Summer always assumed this was because if Kellie was shopping at home by phone then he didn't have to carry her shopping bags).

Sighing, Summer pulled Riley out of Seth's arms and into hers as she stood up and stopped surveying their surroundings. "Let's just start this, okay? Because I already want today to be over," Summer said as she stomped up the stairs.

She decided logically the best room to start with would be Ellie's. Pretty much everything from there would be coming home with them since Ellie needed it all.

Summer looked around at the cheerful, bright, baby blue walls and sighed. Cheerful wasn't what she wanted right now, she wanted to be depressed.

Sighing for what seemed to be the millionth time that hour, Summer inched forward slowly to the wooden dresser and opened the top drawer. She started hauling Ellie's things over into neat piles by her door when Summer saw a white envelope addressed to 'Seth and Summer Cohen' fall out of the pile of clothes she had been carrying.

She bent to pick it up and let the clothes drop carelessly to the floor. She picked up the envelope slowly, as though she was afraid. Somehow she was afraid, afraid of what could possibly be in this envelope, afraid of what bad news it could possibly be carrying for her now. Summer tried to calm herself, reassuring herself that it was most likely just a letter.

She cautiously flipped the envelope over in her hand and began ripping it open, slowly at first and then more rapidly. She hurriedly unfolded the paper in her hands.

> Dear Seth and Summer,   
When we started discussing who we could possibly leave Elizabeth with if something should happen to us, we quickly realized we didn't want any one else to have her-we (selfishly, we know) want her to be ours forever and _only ours_. When we tried to picture all these different people we love raising our little angel, we realized that we needed to find the extraordinary people in our life who would love her the most, take care of her the best, and, most importantly to us, raise her and treat her as their own. The only people we could really see doing this, raising our daughter as their own, giving her all the love, support, guidance, and courage she could ever need, was you two. We know that Ellie will be in wonderful hands and that only the best will come to her with you two serving as her parents.  
If you are reading this, it can only mean one thing. Something has happened to us and most likely we're gone, at least from this life, which is leaving Elizabeth without parents. We want you to know that we love you for taking her into your life and taking care of her as if she was your own daughter. She is basically the only real thing you will really have of us left. Yes, you will have our possessions (those that you chose to keep), and you will have your memories, always, of us, but the only concrete, real thing, _something_ that is truly a part of us-that's Elizabeth. There's nothing else really left of us. Please take care of her for as long as you can and also, as our last request, please take care of yourselves and enjoy your lives to the fullest. We love you and we will always be with you and Elizabeth.  
With all our love and gratitude,  
Alexander and Kellie

Summer bit her lip as the tears started to flow again. There was no stopping it this time, she was already sobbing heavily as she scanned the words of the letter over again. They were right. Kellie and Alex were right. Elizabeth was _it_. There was nothing else left. Just Elizabeth. Just one little girl. One little angel who would never know her parents or how much they loved her.

Summer swallowed hard as something hit her like a cold, hard slap in the face. Elizabeth was the only thing left of Kellie and Alex, the only thing left that truly mattered. And Kellie and Alex trusted _herself_ _and Seth_, whom knew nothing of how to raise kids or even watch them for a day! How on earth where they supposed to raise a little baby? They could barely take care of themselves!

Okay, okay, okay! Summer thought to herself. _It's not that bad, we can take care of ourselves! But...what about someone else?_

Summer shook her head. Like she was really ready to take full control and responsiblity for another person's life. And it wasn't even her kid. Summer always thought that if she was going to screw up another person's life, it would be her own kid, not someone else's. But then again, Summer reminded herself, now Elizabeth was her kid. In practically every sense of the word. The only factor missing would be the biological one, but as Summer herself knew, biological parents aren't always the best ones. In some cases, adoptive or foster parents could be much better at the parenting thing than biological parents. Summer had learned at a young age that just because you share genes and blood doesn't make someone your mother or father. What made someone your mother or father was the way they treated you and felt about you.

She could be a mother to Elizabeth, she knew she could. The thing she was unsure about was whether or not she wanted to. She didn't want to spend her life, raising a daughter, whom Summer knew had a mother who could have done the parenting thing ten times, if not more, better than her. Was that fair to Elizabeth? To give her a crappy mother when she had such a great one? Summer didn't think so. And she wasn't so sure that she wanted to be Elizabeth's mother anymore.

This chapter is dedicated with much love to my friend, Malerie, whose mother died in a car accident this past year, in October 2003.


End file.
